Team ACKS
by VorticalFiveStudios
Summary: Pronounced as ax. Once a descendent of a feared family overcomes great sorrow, they shall be given the ultimate power. If they are deemed worthy, they shall possess the power of a god. That is the prophecy told on Remnant passed down from generation to generation. Ruby/OC, Yang/OC, Neo/OC, Arkos, NoRen, Eclipse, OC/OC
1. Second Chance

**ACKS Chapter 1- Second Chance**

_Disclaimer- The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own anything except the OCs._

_Once a descendant of a feared family overcomes great sorrow, they shall be given the ultimate power. If they are deemed worthy, they shall possess the power of a god. That is the prophecy told on Remnant passed down from generation to generation._

* * *

"You can't escape," the man told the child trying to flee.

"Please! Just let me go!" the four-year-old child yelled. He held onto the loaf of bread he stole from the man and ran as fast as he could. But escape was impossible. The man was keeping up with him just by walking. The child was outclassed in speed.

"I refuse to let a thief go." The man ran in front of the child, blocking his path.

The boy gulped. "F-fine. I'll stop running. B-but I won't go down easily!" He took out a pocket knife and pointed it at the man.

The man raised a brow. "Do you intend to use that? How stupid. I bet you don't know how do use that weapon properly. And even if you did, you're shaking in fear. You don't have the courage to take my life away. Am I correct?"

"I'll... I'll do whatever I need to do to live..."

"Pathetic." He swatted the knife out of the kid's hand and kicked him into a wall. "Since you're a kid, I'll let you choose. Which limb do you want broken?"

"Leave me alone..."

"Whats wrong? Are you so scared that you can't even think properly?"

"Leave me alone..."

"Fine. Right arm it is. Feel lucky that I'm not killing you, boy."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Black flames surrounded the boy. The man jumped back. The flames began to die down, until there was nothing left but three small black flames in his hair. The kid curled up into a ball and began to cry.

'Those flames...' the man thought. 'Could this boy really be...' "Hey. Kid."

The boy looked up at him in fear.

"By any chance, is your father named Kage Honō?"

"W-what? How do you know my dad?"

"I was his student. He taught me everything I know about fighting. He is a man with a semblance like no other. The only other person who could ever have it, he told me, was his son. Kurai Honō."

Kurai blinked. The flames in his hair went out. "My last name is no longer Honō. After that jerk left us, mom changed her last name back to her maiden name. Me and my brother decided to change our last names too. We are now the Mirai family."

Blade nodded in response. "He knew that one day, me and you would meet. My name is Blade. Kurai, what is the thing you want most in life?"

"I grew up on the streets with my family. I became a thief so we could survive. I only steal what is necessary to live. All I want is for them to be safe."

"So all you want is the safety of your family?"

The boy nodded.

"Well kid, I'll make you an offer. I'll teach you how to fight. You can use your skills to become an assassin. They make a lot of cash nowadays. Do you accept?" Blade held his hand out to Kurai.

Kurai stared at his hand for a few moments, and then grabbed it. "I accept."

* * *

A red-haired male and a brown-haired child walked into a forest. The older of the two looked down at the kid. "Crimson," he said. "You want to be part of the White Fang, correct?"

"Yes, big brother," the child known as Crimson said.

"Well, this is your chance to prove you have the capability to be part of it. I will leave you here for ten days. If you're still alive by then, you can be a new member."

"Ten days? This will be easy."

"If you're so confident in your abilities, I'll just leave now." The red-haired male ran off.

"Ten days, huh? I can live through this. And when I join the White Fang..." A smirk formed on the boy's face. "I'll be its new leader."

_TEN MINUTES LATER_

The six-year-old kid walked through the forest, being very cautious of his surroundings. He stopped walking and looked to his right.

Three beowolfs emerged from the shadows. Crimson looked at them with a bored look on his face. "Are you three my first opponents?" he asked them.

One of the beowolfs rushed at him, intending on murdering the boy.

The boy simply jumped out-of-the-way. "I guess so," he said as he unsheathed two twin daggers. With one slash, he severed the grimm's right arm.

The creature growled, and used its remaining arm to attack.

The boy quickly dodged, and used his other dagger to cut the beowolf's head right off. All traces off the creature disintegrated into rose petals.

The other beowolfs howled and ran at the kid.

Crimson quickly combined the two daggers, somehow transforming them into a sword. He quickly used it to split one of them into two pieces, killing it.

With a mighty roar, the remaining beowolf swung its massive claws at the boy. Crimson quickly jumped behind the beast, and grabbed the back of the beast's head. "Sayonara." He charged high-voltage electricity into his hand. His semblance.

He electrocuted the creature until it fell to the ground and turned into rose petals.

"Pathetic. If that's what humans find strong, they're weaker than I thought. Or maybe I'm just too strong. I am Crimson Taurus, after all."

_FIVE YEARS LATER_

A lion faunus fell to the ground, with a dagger aimed at his neck. He sighed. "I give up."

Crimson smirked at his opponent. "Then I win again. That's ten wins in a row with zero losses. So who's next?"

An owl faunus ran into the room. "Everybody! Come quick! Adam Taurus is fighting a human!"

Crimson raised a brow. "A human? Why should I care?"

"It's the shadow flame assassin!"

"What!?" Everybody in the room rushed outside to see what the man was talking about. What they saw was a spectacular sight. A red-haired man was clashing swords with a boy with three black flames in his hair.

The assassin said nothing as he swung his sword rapidly, only for each of his strikes to be blocked by his opponent. He jumped back and threw several black fireballs at him, only for Adam to dodge every one.

"Black flames..." Adam said. "Are you a member of the Honō family?"

"What does it matter?" the boy responded. "This is a battle. That's the only thing that matters right now."

"Is it? You don't really want to fight do you?"

"What?"

"You're scared to fight. Or to be more precise, you're scared to die. I can see fear in your eyes and I can hear it in your voice. So tell me. Why do you continue to fight?"

Kurai sighed. "One week ago, I was employed by a man named Tarrow Pàntú. He was the one who gave me the assignment of killing you. He said to go in seven days. If I don't kill you, I don't get paid. And without that money, I can't help my family."

"Tarrow? Would he happen to be a faunus?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Tarrow was the name of a traitor to the White Fang. After going AWOL, he gave some of our plans away to the humans. Three days ago, he was found and executed. Your employer now has no way to pay you."

"Is that so?" Kurai put his sword away, and the flames in his hair went out. "Then I have no reason to continue this battle."

"You're giving up?"

"Yes. I may be an assassin, but I don't kill for pleasure. And even if I did, its obvious that I don't stand a chance against you. I can tell you've been holding back. If we continue, there's a high chance I will die. You're not worth the pay."

"You're a very strange kid. Fine. I'll let you go. Hopefully we will one day meet again on the battlefield, when you're much stronger."

"Perhaps. I have a feeling this will not be our last duel."

"Wait! Before you leave, tell me who you are. Its pretty obvious that the shadow flame assassin wouldn't be a child, but those black flames are proof that you're a member of the Honō family. Who are you?"

"Who am I? I'm his son. You can call me the dark flame assassin." He ran off.

Crimson then ran up to Adam. "Big Brother," he said. "Why didn't you kill him? You could easily have ripped him apart, limb by limb. He's only a human."

Adam sighed. "Some humans just aren't worth killing."

"What do you mean? They're humans. All of them are worthless scum that should just die."

"One day you'll understand, Crimson. One day you will."

_SIX YEARS LATER_

"Mom? Sonder?" Kurai said as he entered his family's new house. With the money he gained from assassination, he was able to buy this. "I'm home."

"Onii-chan!" a kid two years younger than Kurai exclaimed with joy as he ran over to greet him. This was Sonder Mirai, Kurai's younger brother. Unlike Kurai, he didn't inherit his father's semblance. "How was your job today?" Unlike his mother, Sonder had no idea what Kurai did for a living. Instead, Sonder was told that Kurai was a professional boxer.

"It was fine," Kurai said as he ruffled his brother's hair. "Wheres Mom?"

Sonder pointed down the hall, at the living room. "She requested to talk to you, without me listening."

"I see... Why don't you go back to your room? I'll tell you when you can come back out."

"Alright! I'll wait until your done talking!" He ran off to his room.

Kurai sighed and walked to the living room. "Hello, mother," he said when he got there and saw his mother, Hikari Mirai, sitting on the couch, with a cup of tea.

She looked at him. "Hello, Kurai," she said.

"You... Wanted to talk to me?" he said as he sat down on the other couch.

"Yes. Kurai. I want you to give up your career as an assassin."

Kurai frowned. "I can't. I need to be able to provide you and Sonder with everything necessary to live."

"Kurai, you've already given us all we need. You can finally stop. I have a job now too, you know."

"I'm well aware. But I can't stop. It's the only thing I know how to do. It was what I was trained to do."

"And what about your brother? He's eventually going to figure out what you really are! You can't keep lying to him about your job so he won't try to stop you!"

"Even so, I already said I can't stop. This is the only thing I know how to do. I need to do this!"

"No you don't! Only people like him murder for a living!" The room went silent. Kurai knew who she was referring to: his father. The same man who left his family when he was only three just to continue his career as an assassin. "Kurai..."

"No, I understand. If I continue this job, I'll most likely end up doing the same thing he did and completely abandon you both. But what else can I do?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Theres a place where you can use your training for good." She handed her son a pamphlet.

Kurai looked at it and raised an eyebrow. "Beacon Academy? That school where people go to become huntsmen and huntresses?"

Hikari nodded. "I've already talked to the headmaster to sign you up. Even though he doesn't normally allow people your age attend, he has agreed to let you join due to your experience and training. He knew Blade personally, and knows how torturous his training can be. He also says he let a girl your age join not too long ago. Theres a team there that still needs two more members. You will be on that team. You will be able to visit us during vacation."

Kurai was silent for a moment. Then he asked a question. "When do I leave?"

"In three days."

He sighed. "Alright, I'll go get my stuff packed." He walked down the hall and knocked on his brother's door. "Hey, Sonder? You can come out, now."

Sonder's door opened. "Onii-chan," he said. "I heard a lot of yelling. Is everything ok?"

"Yes, Sonder. Everything is fine." He embraced his brother in a hug. "Everything is just fine..."

* * *

"Big brother," Crimson said as he walked up to Adam. "You requested to speak with me?"

"Indeed I have," Adam responded. "The White Fang is sending you on a mission."

"Oh? At whose neck shall my sword be pointed at, this time?"

"A co-worker of mine, by the name of Cinder Fall, has infiltrated Beacon. She, along with two of her comrades, have joined it to gain their trust. When the time is right, they will betray that trust. However, right now they're only a three person team. As you are no doubt aware of, all teams at Beacon Academy are four person teams."

"Let me guess. You want me to join their team, don't you?"

"Precisely."

Crimson frowned. He hated when he had to team up with humans, even if it is only temporary. However, he knew he had no choice in the matter. He could not go against his brother. "When do I leave?"

"Three days."

"Hmph. At least that'll give me enough time to pack my belongings."

_THREE DAYS LATER_

"Hmm..." Crimson looked around. He was currently at Beacon. "So this is the school, huh? I must admit, this is very impressive. For humans at least."

"Uh," he heard a voice from behind him. "Excuse me, sir. I'm new here. Can you please tell me where Ozpin-sensei's office is?"

Crimson turned around and his eyes widened. He couldn't believe it. The one speaking was the same boy he saw fighting his brother six years ago. "You... I know you..."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	2. A New Team

**ACKS Chapter 2- A New Team**

_Disclaimer- The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own anything except the OCs._

"You... I know you..."

Kurai blinked and tilted his head to the side. "Huh? How? Did I kill you at some point?"

"What? Are you an idiot?"

"Dude, you're not making any sense. So can you tell me where I need to go?"

Crimson frowned. "You truly are an idiot if you think I'll help you."

"Fine. I'll just find it on my own."

"Theres no need for that, children," a new voice said.

The two boys looked to see who had spoken. They saw a blonde woman with glasses. "Uh... Who are you?"

"My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are the new students, correct?"

"Whats it to you?" Crimson asked.

"I'm a new student! Do you know where Ozpin-sensei is?"

"Imbecile! Don't be so trusting! You don't even know this woman! You can't just tell people information until you know exactly who they are!"

"There is no need for you to worry. I'm Ozpin's assistant. I was instructed by Ozpin to bring two new students to him."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" Kurai said. "Lets go!" He began to walk with her. But stopped when he noticed Crimson wasn't following. "Hey! You coming or not!?"

"Fool..." he said under his breath. "How is someone like him the dark flame assassin?"

"Oi! Baka! I asked you a question!"

"Shut up, human! I'm going!"

_LATER AT OZPIN'S OFFICE_

Crimson and Kurai sat in two chairs, while Glynda stood by Ozpin's desk. Ozpin was not there at the moment. Crimson looked around. The whole room was filled with spinning gears. 'What kind of person designs a place to be like this?' the faunus thought to himself.

"Hey."

Crimson looked at the boy sitting next to him. "What is it, human?"

"You ever wonder why we're here?"

Crimson was silent for a moment. "...N-no. I never wonder why we're here. Ever."

An awkward silence followed after that. Fifteen more minutes past before two people entered the office. One was Ozpin, and the other was a raven haired boy who wore green armor. Ozpin held a coffee mug in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other. "Good evening," the boy with armor said as he sat in a chair across from the two teens.

"You must be Crimson Denki," Ozpin said, eyes locked on Crimson.

The Faunus decided to use the name Denki (which is Chinese for electricity), as an alias. Obviously, he would be immediately suspected of his connection to the White Fang if he didn't use one. His brother was a very well known member, after all. "Yeah. That's me."

"And you..." The headmaster of Beacon looked at Kurai. "Must be Kurai Mirai."

Crimson raised an eyebrow. 'Mirai?' he thought. 'I thought his surname Honō. Is he using an alias too?'

Kurai nodded. "Yup! That's my name!"

"I see. You were trained by the mercenary, Blade, correct?"

"Y-yes sir..." Kurai suddenly looked very nervous.

"How was your experience during his training sessions?"

"Uh..."

_FLASHBACK_

"Alright, kid," Blade told his apprentice as he stood next to a giant cage. "Heres the first training exercise. Theres a beowulf in this cage, and you need to fight it."

"F-fight it?" the young child asked.

"That's right," Blade responded as he put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. "Kill it."

"Uh... Do I get a weapon?"

"You already have a weapon." Blade took his own weapon and used it to open the cage. "Use your flames to burn it to a crisp."

"B-but I don't know how to control them yet!"

"Well, nows the perfect time to learn." The beast stepped out and looked at Kurai menacingly. "I can sense it's bloodlust, and its at a high level. Eliminate it as quickly as possible."

"Y-y-you will help me if it gets too dangerous, right Blade-sensei!?"

"Kid, this is a test to see if you're worthy. So if you die, that's only proof that you don't have what it takes to be my student. Now get to grimm slaying!"

The beowulf charged at the young assassin in training. In response, Kurai began to run around, with the grimm following him, in a very comical manner.

Blade took a drag from his cigarette. "This seems like its gonna be fun..."

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"It wasn't fun!" Kurai said, close to tears. "It was not fun!"

"So he didn't hold back on you. As expecting of a cold-hearted man such as Blade." He put the plate down on the table in front of them, just like when Ruby met him. Kurai was immediately snapped out of his previously traumatized state. His attention now solely on the plate.

Crimson narrowed his eyes. 'Could be drugged...' he thought. He looked at the boy sitting across from him. "You. Green guy."

"Hmm?" The teen looked at him.

"You eat one first."

"Oh? Why?"

"I just want to know for sure that they're safe to eat."

"Not the most trusting of individuals, are you? Fine." He looked back at the plate, only to realize it was gone. "What? Where did it-?"

Kurai belched, and somehow he burped up the plate. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself!"

"He ate the entire plate whole? That is very illogical."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Crimson asked the boy.

Kurai simply moved his scarf up to cover his mouth and cheeks to hide his embarrassment. "I have a serious sweet-tooth, ok? I can't help it..."

The boy in green sighed. "I should probably introduce myself. My name is Adam Blu."

'Adam? Like big brother's name? No, calm down Crimson. Its a very common name. Its only a coincidence.' "Why should I give a damn?"

"You should care because I'm your team leader."

"W-what!? No you're not! I thought I was on Cinder's team!"

"Originally you were. However, during the time frame between when you applied and when you came, somebody else was assigned to Ms. Fall's team. His name was Balam. Thus, you ending up on my team, along with Kurai."

"B-but...!"

"Awesome!" Kurai said. "I guess that makes us all teammates, eh?"

"No! We are not teammates! Listen old man! You send whoever is on Cinder's team here right now so you can take him off their roster! And if you can't, I'll kill him so I can take his place!"

Ozpin frowned. "Mr. Denki, once the teams are made, no member can be transferred to another. And if you were to kill Balam, not only would you be expelled, but you would go to prison as well."

Crimson glared at him, cursing under his breath.

"As of now, you are a team. And theres no changing that. You are all dismissed. Adam, I shall leave the rest to you."

Adam saluted the headmaster. "You can count on me, sir."

They left the room. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Glynda asked. "Moving those children up to second year students immediately doesn't seem very smart."

"Perhaps its unconventional, but the students Adam and Syfen need a complete roster. They were late entries into Beacon last year, but everyone else was already on their own teams, so there was nobody to fill the empty spots on their team. Kurai Mirai is not only a descendent of the infamous Honō clan, but is also a student of that madman, Blade. I am sure he is qualified for this. Crimson Denki, however... I am not so sure about him. Hardly anything is known about him. This might be even more interesting then last year..."

_LATER_

"And that concludes your tour of Beacon," Adam told the new students as they walked up to a door.

"This place is bigger then it looks!" Kurai exclaimed. "And that's saying something because it already looks really big!"

"I want to shoot myself in the f***ing head," Crimson said, angrily.

"I can tell working with you isn't going to be easy," Adam said.

"So... Adam. All Beacon teams have four members, correct?"

"That is true, Kurai."

"So... Where is the last guy?"

"We're going to see him right now. Behind this door is our dorm, and I told him to wait here for me."

He opened the door, and was immediately tackled by a brown haired boy with a goatee. "Adam!" he yelled. "Where have you been!? You said you would be back in a few minutes! Its been way longer than that!"

Adam frowned as he pushed the boy off of him. "I said hours. Not minutes."

"Really? Wow, I misheard you completely. So who are these two?"

"Our new teammates."

The boys eyes lit up. "Cool! Hey, new guys! My name is Syfen!" He held out his hand to Kurai. "Whats yours?"

Kurai shook his hand. "Kurai Mirai! And let me say, that is one heck of a goatee!"

"Thanks a bunch!" He stopped and held his hand out to shake Crimson's hand. "And you?"

Crimson just stared at his hand.

"Uh... Is he ok?"

"Don't mind him," Kurai said. "He isn't exactly what you'd call normal. His name is Crimson Denki."

"Oh. Well nice to meet you two! I hope we can be the best of friends!"

Crimson rolled his eyes. 'Stupid humans. Are all of them this trusting?'

"Why don't you tell us a little about yourselves? You know, stuff about your past, semblance, weapon, you know, that sort of stuff."

Kurai nodded. "My name is Kurai Mirai. Eldest son of Hikari Mirai. I love sugar, and my weapon is a shotgun sword called Pyro. My semblance is the ability to summon flames. Its more like a curse than a blessing. As for my past... I'd rather not talk about it..."

"Smart move, Mirai," a voice echoed through his mind. Nobody heard it except Kurai "I'd rather they not know too much about us."

Adam nodded. "Understood. And you?"

"Hmph. My name is Crimson T- er, Denki. My weapons are two twin daggers that combine into a sword called Red Death. My semblance is the ability to use electricity. You don't need to know anything about past."

"I see. Well, if neither of you won't reveal your pasts to us, we won't tell you ours. We'll only tell you when you tell us. You already know our names. My semblance is the ability to alter the metal around me, and my weapon are two twin swords that transform into pistols."

"And my semblance is the ability to slightly alter gravity! My weapon is also a double-bladed sword that turns into a bow! Everyone here uses a sword as a weapon, right? So we should call ourselves the blade brothers!"

"No," Adam and Crimson responded at the same time.

"Please don't say Blade ever again..." Kurai said, slightly trembling.

"But it sounded cool in my head..."

"We said no!"

"Fine! Spoil sports..."

Adam looked out the window. "Its too late at night to continue discussing this. Both of you pick a bed and go to sleep."

Kurai sighed. "Wasn't planning on sleeping until a week later. But its been a long day, so I guess I'll make an exception, tonight."

"A week? How do you stay awake?"

_LATER_

All the team members were sleeping. However, none of them were expecting Kurai to have night terrors. "Adam?" the Honō clan descendent said in his sleep. "Adam, shut the screen door, Adam..."

Crimson, who had woken up due to Kurai's sleep talking, decided to mess with him. "I'm Adam," he said. "And I'm not shutting the door!"

"Huh?" Adam said as he woke up.

Kurai, still asleep, jumped out of bed. He stood in front of a window, which projected a creepy shadow of him on the wall. He looked at Crimson with his eyes closed. Kurai screeched like a hawk and grabbed the Faunus' bed and flipped it over while Crimson was still on it. The former assassin then crawled under his own bed and started weeping like a psycho path.

Crimson blinked, and flipped his bed back over. "You humans are weird," he said. He looked back at Kurai, who continued to weep. "I'd film that and use it as blackmail material, but I'm way too tired." He then went back to sleep.

_LATER NEXT MORNING_

Syfen got out of bed and yawned. He looked at his teammates who were just getting up as well and smiled. "So how are you all doing?" he asked the others.

"I am fine," Adam said without emotion.

Crimson groaned. "Why do we have to get up so early?" he said, groggily.

He laughed. "And how about you, Kurai? How are you?"

Kurai crawled out from under his bed and glared at him. His once joyful orange eyes were replaced with angry blue ones. "Screw off," he said.

Syfen blinked in surprise. "Huh?"

Kurai walked over to the bag he brought with him and opened it. He pulled out something wrapped in tinfoil and unwrapped it. It was a slice of chocolate cake. "Don't talk to me until I've had my morning sugar." The former assassin pulled a chunk out of the slice and ate it. He continued to eat until there was nothing left. He belched and laughed. "Delicious!" he said. He looked at his teammates. His eyes had changed back to their original, orange color. "Oh, hey guys! Whats up? Why are you all staring at me?"

"What do mean 'why'?" Crimson asked. "Your personality has completely changed!"

"Not only that, but your eye color changed as well," Adam said.

"Oh, did it? Sorry, usually I'm able to prevent him from taking over."

"Him?" Syfen asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I have dissociative identity disorder."

Crimson and Syfen looked at their team leader. "Mind translating that to English?" Crimson asked.

"It means he has multiple personalities," the teen in green armor replied.

Kurai nodded. "I am the real Kurai. The others refer to me as Mirai, due to us all sharing the same first name, but different surnames. Not only do we all act different, we also have different eye colors. The one you probably saw is named Kurai Satō. He takes over when I don't eat sugar for over twelve hours. He's a big jerk, but hates being the one in control. So, he eats sugar as soon as possible so I can take over again. All my personalities are awoken when certain actions are performed. For example, one is triggered when I overdose on caffeine. I don't know exactly how many I have, but there are several. I can only communicate with one, and he tells me about most of them."

"And which personality is that?"

"My inner demon... I'd rather not talk about him."

Adam nodded. "Understood. We should probably leave now. The Beacon cafeteria serves breakfast at this time, and I'd rather not miss it."

Everyone else agreed. After putting on their uniforms, they left their dorm, and headed for the cafeteria. "So do you have any personalities that make you act normal?" Crimson asked Kurai.

Kurai thought for a moment. "Nope!"

_LATER_

"Holy crap!" Crimson said as he admired the large selection of food Beacon offered for breakfast. There was a much larger variety here compared to what the White Fang offered. "Is there anything here they don't serve!?"

Syfen smiled. "Theres a really wide selection, right? I had the same reaction when I saw it as well."

Kurai, on the other hand, wasn't so impressed. "How can you call this a wide selection!? They don't even serve candy or cake!"

Adam raised a brow. "Do you survive on a diet of sweets alone?"

"Yes! Its all a person needs to eat! And how can I survive without sugar!?"

Adam sighed. "Just go get a chocolate chip muffin or some strawberries or something. They don't serve candy or ice cream or whatever you're used to, so you're gonna have to use a substitute."

Kurai pouted. "Fine..." He walked over to the spot where fruit was sold, and scowled at a bowl of strawberries. He reached into the bowl to grab one, but at the same time, someone else did as well. The two turned to each other to see who the other was. Orange eyes met silver ones, and the orange ones widened. The person was the cutest girl Kurai had ever seen, and she was standing very close to him. He quickly stepped back, with a blush coloring his face.

The girl blinked. Then, she smiled. "Uh, hi!" she said. "I'm Ruby. Whats your name?"

Kurai paused before speaking. "I-I'm Kurai."

Ruby tilted her head to the side. "I don't think I've seen you before... Are you new?"

"Um... Yes, actually. I was sent here yesterday. I was assigned to Adam Blu's team."

"Adam Blu? But he's a second year student, like me! Professor Ozpin allowed you to advance to a second year student right off the bat?"

"W-well, I think so... I'm not sure though. Aren't you a little young to be a second-year student?"

"I could say the same thing to you. You look to be the same age as me."

"...Touché." Ruby giggled, and Kurai's face grew even redder. 'So cute...' he thought.

"Hey, demon kid," Crimson said as he walked up to Kurai. "Adam wants to know whats taking you so long."

"S-sorry, Crimson... I was just talking to Ruby."

"Ruby?"

"That's me!" she said. "And you are...?"

Crimson glared at her coldly. "Thats none of your concern."

"Hey! Don't talk to her that way! She hasn't done anything to make you angry!"

Crimson raised a brow. "You don't care when I disrespect you. So why did you get so defensive when I said that to her?

Kurai blushed. Crimson smirked at this.

"Oh I get it. You want to taste something sweeter than candy, don't you?"

"Huh?" Kurai and Ruby said in unison, both not understanding what the Faunus was implying.

Crimson sighed. "Never mind. Just hurry up and get something. Classes start in fifteen minutes." He then left.

Kurai looked at Ruby. "Sorry about him. He isn't very trusting toward humans."

"Its alright. So... Kurai, right? I should probably get something to eat, too. Well, hope we meet in class! See you later!" She left.

Kurai watched as she ran off. After getting a few things, he sat down at the table his team sat at. Adam looked over at him. "What took you so long?"

"I think I might just fall for that girl."

"What?"

"What?"

Adam sweat-dropped. He decided to drop the subject and return to eating his meal. Unfortunately, at that moment, Team CRDL spotted them and decided the new students would be their new victims. "So those are the new kids, huh?" Sky said.

"Seems like it," Russel said. "Who should we 'welcome' first? That kid?"

They all looked at Kurai, who was eating at an inhuman pace. "Nah," Dove responded. "I feel as though he'll eat _us_ if we get within five feet of him. What about that other boy sitting in front of him?"

They all looked at Crimson. The Faunus was eating a breakfast sandwich and a normal pace, unlike the Honō clan descendent. Cardin smirked. "A Faunus, huh? Its a mystery how Ozpin keeps allowing such filthy animals into the academy." They walked over to their table. "Hello, freak."

Crimson looked at Kurai. "Demon kid. They're talking to you."

"Idiot, we're talking to you, beast boy! What the hell bred to make you?"

"I'll have you know I'm a dragon Faunus. One of the most majestic creatures on Remnant. And what bred to create a disgusting creature like you? A platypus and a skunk? Not only are you ugly, but you smell like an ass too."

"What the hell did you just say?" Cardin growled. He tried to grab the spikes on the boy's head, but Crimson ducked before he could.

"You're like a penguin. A bird that can't fly, which is the one thing it should do. You're a huntsmen, yet you can't fight worth a damn."

"How dare you, freak! I've been here way longer than you! I'm way better than you'll ever be!"

He tried to throw a punch but before it could hit him, the Faunus was behind him, with a dagger pressed against his neck. "You dare mock the Faunus people? An action like that is punishable by death."

Cardin broke out in a cold sweat, while his team watched in horror, unsure of what to do. "Y-you'd r-really k-kill me?" the bully stuttered.

Crimson smirked. "Do you really doubt me?"

However, before he could do anything, Kurai put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Stop," he commanded.

"Oh, thank you!" Cardin said in tears. "Thank you so much! Please, save me from this psycho!" Kurai whispered to the faunus so that only Crimson could hear him.

"If you're gonna kill him, do it some place where nobody can see. Theres too many witnesses here."

Crimson smirked. "I like the way you think, boy." And he thought, 'Perhaps he'll be an acceptable test subject, after all.'

"No," Adam said as he stood up. "There will be no murder on my team. If you want to stay on the roster, you won't kill him."

"Spoil sport," Crimson muttered as he released him. Cardin quickly ran back to his team, shaking uncontrollably. "Lets just get back to eating before-"

He felt someone tap on his shoulder. He turned around and saw a blonde girl with her arms crossed, glaring at him. "I heard you disrespected my sister and made a dirty remark about her and some boy. Is that true?"

"If her name is Ruby, then yes. And who are-" He was hit in the face by Yang, and was flung back into a wall. "Wow," he groaned. "What a woman..."

_LATER_

"ALRIGHT LADIES, LISTEN UP!" the teacher said in a loud voice. "I AM YOUR NEW TEACHER, BECAUSE YOUR OLD ONE, HAS TEMPORARILY LEFT DUE TO FOUR IDIOTIC STUDENTS WHO WOULDN'T LISTEN!"

"Is he talking about us?" Cardin asked.

"SO! I WILL BE YOUR NEW INSTRUCTOR! NOW, SOME OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THAT I AM ACTUALLY A NICE GUY! And although those rumors may be true, in this class, I will be PROFESSOR DICK HOLE! But don't worry students. Under this strict exterior, is a GENTLE, FRIENDLY GIANT! BUT BEFORE I BEGIN, TWO NEW STUDENTS WILL BE JOINING THE CLASS! WILL THEY PLEASE ENTER!?"

Kurai and Crimson entered the room. "Uh... Hi?

"YOU!"

The two boys took a step back, fearing this man. "W-what?"

"...Why don't you introduce yourselves?"

"Uh... I'm Kurai Mirai, pleasure to meet you all?"

"And I'm Crimson Denki... That's all I've got."

"...Alright. Now... GO FIND YOUR TEAM, AND SIT YOUR STINK HOLES DOWN!"

The two located where their teammates were as quickly as possible, and sat with them. "Sup?" Crimson asked.

"Kurai!" a high pitched voice said.

"Hmm?" Kurai looked at the seats below them, and saw Team RWBY. "Oh, uh... Hi, Ruby. Guess we're in the same class, huh?"

"You bet! This is gonna be a fun year!"

"Are... Are all teachers as scary as him? Not that he's anywhere near as scary as my first teacher, but still..."

"Oh, don't worry. He's the replacement for our previous combat teacher, who was transferred to another class due to those jerks on team CRDL always talking back. I guess they just wanted to scare them into never talking back again."

"Oh great. First those idiots try to pick on my friend, and now they force me to deal with a creepy teacher? Whoever those idiots are, they are the worst! So who are these three?"

"Oh, how rude of me! This is my team. Team RWBY! This here is Weiss Schnee, my partner."

"Hi," Weiss said.

'A Schnee?' Crimson thought. 'That family that has been fighting the White Fang for years? I'll need time to decide whether she should be another test subject, or if I should just kill her for her family's defiance against my people.'

"That girl over there is Blake Belladonna."

"Hello," Blake said.

"And last but not least, that girl next to her is my sister, Yang Xiao Long."

"Hey! How's it hang...! Oh. Its you." Yang glared at Crimson.

'Oh crap,' he thought. 'Its that girl from before.' He sighed. 'If I want to survive during the time I'm here, I should stay on her good side.' "I see you remember me. Listen. I think we got off on the wrong foot. Is there any way you could forgive me?"

"Hmph. You really want forgiveness?"

"Considering its either that or be enemies with you, yes."

"Then apologize to Ruby."

"Come again?"

"Apologize to my sister right now and I'll forgive you."

"Apologize?"

"Yeah. And I don't mean like a half-assed apology. I mean a full, sincere one."

Crimson looked at the leader of team RWBY. 'Apologize?' he thought. 'Apologize to a human? That's something I never thought I'd do.' He sighed. "I'm sorry Ruby. I should not have been rude, and I definitely should not have made that dirty comment about you and the demon kid."

"Apology accepted. But what exactly did you mean by 'dirty comment'?"

"If you have a mind like demon kid over there, then its not something you should know about yet."

"Are you just gonna call me demon kid for the rest of the school year?"

"Theres no denying it. Yes."

"Alright!" Syfen said. "So do you think we can all be friends?"

Yang smirked. "Alright. Consider this an alliance between RWBY and whatever your team name is."

"Sounds good," Adam responded. "And by the way, Ozpin has given us a team name. Team ACKS. I only forgot to tell you two."

"ACKS?" Kurai asked. "As in, the weapon?"

"NOW, BECAUSE ITS REQUIRED THAT NEW TEAMS FIGHT ONE-ON-ONE BATTLES, THE NEWLY FORMED TEAM WILL BE FIGHTING TEAM CRDL! MIRAI, YOU FIGHT SKY LARK FIRST!"

"What?" Kurai asked. "But I thought-"

"I'm sorry, but did I tell you that you could talk back, Blue Exorcist?"

"Blue Exorcist?"

"DID I!?"

"N-no sir!"

"Good. NOW GET YOUR COMBAT CLOTHES ON!"

In fear, Kurai and Sky quickly ran out of the room, and came back five minutes later, wearing their combat clothes. "I'm ready!" Kurai said.

As the two stood in their spots, the teacher went over the rules. "Alright, you know the drill. You must damage your opponent until their aura level is very low. Other then that, there are pretty much no rules, except for no killing, no hitting below the belt, and no grabbing of the dicks."

"Uh... Has that ever been a problem?" Kurai asked.

"EVERY GOD DAMN YEAR!"

The two boys sweat-dropped. Then, they pointed their weapons at each other.

"AND BEGIN!"

Sky rushed at Kurai and swung his halberd, but right before it hit, Kurai disappeared from his sight, leaving nothing behind but an empty space. "Your aim is as broad as your weapon," Kurai said, now standing behind him with his arms crossed. "Can you at least try to hit me next time?"

A tick mark appeared on Sky's forehead. "Are you mocking me, kid? Fine! Prepare for a beatdown!" He ran at the boy and began to rapidly swing his weapon. Kurai raised his sword, Pyro, and blocked the attacks. "Come on! Use your weapon for something besides defense! Your misery will end faster if you just stop!"

"This guy is starting to piss me off..." A voice echoed through Kurai's head.

'Quiet.'

"Are you just too scared to fight back? You weak, spineless fool!"

"Can I just take over? I'll be able to do more damage then you, and you won't have to feel sorry for him."

'I told you to be silent.'

"And now you won't even respond to me? Very rude. What whore of a mother raised you?"

And that was where Kurai drew the line. "That's it. Sick 'em, Azazel!"

Black flames surrounded the boy's body, and Sky quickly jumped back. "W-what is this!?"

The flames died down. Then, only three black flames remained on his head. Kurai stared at him, with wide, black, faded eyes. Then, he started laughing. "You made a mistake, boy."

"Huh?"

"Mirai is fine with others insulting him. He's grown used to it. But if you make fun of his brother or mom, you mess with the phenix. And when you mess with the phenix..."

He moved faster then Sky's eyes could process, and reappeared holding the bully up by the collar.

"You get burned."

"W-wait! I give-!"

Kurai didn't give him time to finish. He quickly released his grip on him, and drove him into the ground with a punch to the head, knocking him out. "You don't have a right to give up. A battle isn't as fun when I can't inflict pain on my opponent. Mirai, you can have your body back. I'm done here."

The flames went out and Kurai's eyes went back to normal. The other students, knowing that must be his semblance, dismissed it as nothing special. "The demon kid wins!"

"What? You too now?"

"SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP TRAINEE! NEXT UP IS CRIMSON VS RUSSEL! GET CHANGED AND FIGHT!"

_FIVE MINUTES LATER_

Kurai now sat in his seat with his school clothes back on, Sky was recovering in the nurse's office, and Crimson and Russel, now in their combat clothes, stood with their weapons drawn. "DO I NEED TO GO OVER THE RULES AGAIN!?"

"Oh god, no!"

"Good. START!"

The two rushed at each other, each wielding their own daggers. They tried to cut each other as soon as possible, but each attack was either dodged or blocked... Mostly. At least for the first five seconds. Then Russel jumped back as soon as he felt Crimson cut his cheek. It was a minor cut, but nevertheless, it was a cut. "Bastard... How dare you damage my face!?"

"Oh, pipe down. I can't damage what is already broken."

"Damn freak. I was hoping I wouldn't have to use this, but oh well." He put his daggers away and his hands began to glow. "Behold, freak! This is my semblance! I can focus my aura into my hands, and once every hour, any person I touch will be paralyzed!"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah! You scared?"

"No. What's scaring me is the bug on your face."

"Bug? Where?" Russel stupidly touched his face, shocking himself, and thus being paralyzed.

"Crimson wins!"

"Did he just..." Cardin realized what happened. "IDIOT! YOU STUPID IDIOT!

"Thanks for the stimulating fight, dumbass." Crimson walked away and sat back down in his seat.

"Come on," Weiss said. "If you tried that on anyone who had half a brain cell, that would've never worked. How did you know he'd be that dumb?"

"Believe me, I know an idiot when I see one." Crimson then looked at Kurai, and then Syfen.

"Why did you look at us when you said that?"

"Oh, no reason."

Soon, after it was Syfen's turn. He stood facing Dove, both with their weapons drawn. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested to see how this fight will go down," Kurai spoke with curiosity evident in his voice.

"Trust me," Adam said. "You'll be surprised."

"AND BEGIN!"

Syfen disappeared from Dove's sight. "What? Where did he-?"

Dove's question was answered when a frying pan smashed into the back of his head, knocking him to the ground.

"What. The hell. Just happened!?" Crimson asked.

Syfen glanced at Dove's inert body, and then at the frying pan in his hand. "I didn't kill him, right Adam?"

"No," the team leader responded. "Although he might have a temporary minor case of serious brain-damage."

"I like turtles!" Dove yelled.

"See? He just likes turtles."

"Is... Is that really his weapon?"

"No. As he said before, he wields a sword."

"But... Then... Where did he get...?"

"Syfen works in mysterious ways. Its best not to question what he does, and just embrace the randomness."

"I... I..." Crimson sighed. "I give up. You people are just way too weird."

"Syfen wins!"

Now it was finally Adam's turn. He had to fight Cardin. It was team leader versus team leader. Who would win? I think you already know the answer. "I'm gonna knock you out, pretty boy!" Cardin yelled.

"Eh. We'll see about that."

"AND BEGIN!"

Cardin ran to him and swung his mace. Adam lazily dodged to the right, with his hands behind his back. "Quit dodging so I can hit you!"

He swung his weapon again, only for Adam to dodge again. "Fool. You use your weapon like an amateur. Did you even have any proper training to use it?"

"Shut up!" He continued to swing his mace.

"Is he so confident he doesn't see a reason to use his hands?" Kurai asked.

"No," Syfen responded. "He _knows _that there's no reason to use his hands."

"Impressive..." Crimson said. 'Another test subject discovered...'

"So... You guys wanna hear our backstory?"

"What? But Adam said-"

"Adam isn't here right now. He's fighting. Now do you wanna hear it or not?"

"Uh... Sure. Why not?"

"Sweet! Anyways, me and him grew up in the same village. We were neighbors. The village we were raised in was a village of blacksmiths. Everyone forged their own weapons. We both lived happily... Until the White Fang attacked."

'Oh, crap...'

"They destroyed everything and killed everyone we loved. For some reason we were spared that day... I'm not sure why, but we were. So we decided to attend Beacon to become stronger... To avenge our brethren."

Crimson gulped. 'So they wish to eliminate the White Fang? Recruiting them is gonna be harder than I thought...'

They looked back at the fight going on, and saw Adam with his foot on Cardin's chest, and a pistol aimed at his forehead. "And I win."

"Freaks," Cardin muttered. "All of you. Freaks."

"AND THAT CONCLUDES THE BATTLES BETWEEN TEAM ACKS AND TEAM CRDL! We still have time for one more fight... SO WHICH OF YOU WOULD LIKE TO-!"

"I'd like to go again," Adam said. "If you wouldn't mind."

"...Alright. So... PICK YOUR OPPONENT!"

"Hmm... I wanna fight... Him." He pointed at Crimson.

"M-me!?" The dragon Faunus questioned.

"You wanna fight your own teammate?"

"He may be an ally, but I haven't seen all of his skills yet, and I wish to see them."

"I see. Well, I hope you two have become good friends. Because now you're gonna have to beat the piss out of each other."

_LATER_

"So. Tweedle Derp and Tweedle Herp. Are you both ready?"

"The hell did you just call us?"

"GO!" He shot a pistol upwards, and part of the ceiling, along with someone from the second floor, fell down. "...MEDIC!"

"That was the medic!" Nora yelled.

"DAMN IT!"

Adam and Crimson stared each other down. Then, Adam pointed his pistols at the dragon Faunus, and began to shoot them in rapid-fire.

Crimson ran at him in a zig-zag motion, evading all the bullets. When he was close enough, he jumped and tried to deliver a spin-kick to Adam's skull. However, the team leader blocked it with his pistol. The White Fang member's leg hit the gun instead of Adam's head, and he quickly jumped back.

The two fighters glared at each other. Then Crimson combined his two daggers, forming a sword. He ran at the team leader again, and swung his sword. One of Adam's guns transformed into a sword, and he raised it. The blades collided and Crimson smirked. He grabbed Adam's other hand, and activated his semblance to electrocute him. Adam's eyes widened for a moment, but then he glared at his opponent. The Faunus' weapon broke in two, and Adam pushed him back. He kicked Crimson in the chest, sending him flying back into a wall. "THE METAL BENDER WINS!"

"Hmph." The boy in green looked down at his damaged hand. "Should get some bandages for this later."

"Bastard," Crimson groaned as he got up. "What did you do to Red Death!?"

"To break your weapon, I changed the physical properties of it's metal. I simply made it easier to break it. If you'd like, I can fix them for you."

Crimson frowned. "No. I don't want a human's help. I'd rather just get rid of them." 'Yeah. Recruiting him is gonna be a real pain in the ass.' the Faunus thought as he tossed the two pieces of the sword in the trash.

_LATER_

As Crimson lied down on his bed, preparing for another night at Beacon, he reflected on the events that occurred over the last two days. 'What kind of world do I live in if I can't even beat a human?' he thought.

The door opened, and Adam walked in. "Hey," he said.

"Hi!" Syfen shouted happily.

"Momphs dit manged? (Hows it hanging?)" Kurai said with his mouth full of candy.

Crimson only glared at him.

"Hey, Crimson," Adam said. Crimson looked at him. "Catch."

He tossed something to him, and Crimson caught it. "The hell? Is this my sword?"

"It is."

Crimson changed it back to two daggers. "Both forms have no signs of damage... Why did you do this?"

"Why? Because we're teammates. And teammates help each other when needed. Plus, you're gonna need your weapon for missions."

"No, I mean... Why help me? A Faunus? Didn't Syfen say you hated our kind?"

"So he told you our history, huh?" He sighed. "Well, if he told you our backstory, he didn't mean I hate all Faunus kind. Only the White Fang. Don't forget that."

'I don't understand. I thought all humans discriminated against my race... So why is this human accepting my kind as equals? Sure he only respects the race traitors, but still... Oh yeah. Note to self. Don't let the green guy find out I'm a member of the White Fang...'

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

_In memory of Monty Oum. You were an inspiration to us all..._


	3. True Sins

**ACKS Chapter 3- True Sins**

_Disclaimer- The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own anything except the OCs._

"Goooooood morning world and all who inhabit it!" Syfen said as he woke up. "Second day of the second semester! Everybody, get up!"

He looked to his side and saw Crimson groan in annoyance, but got up anyways.

Adam got up as well and yawned.

Kurai, on the other hand, was nowhere in sight. Syfen tilted his head in confusion. "Anybody know where Kurai is?"

Crimson glared at him. "We just woke up. How the hell would we know?"

"No need to be rude," Syfen responded with a pout.

"Is he in the bathroom?" Adam asked.

Syfen glanced toward the bathroom. "Nope. The door is open and I don't see anyone in it."

"Then where could-"

Before Adam could finish his question, the door opened, and Kurai walked in, holding a bag in his hand. He looked at his teammates and smiled. "Hey there."

"Where were you?"

"At the bookstore. Theres a new owner of 'Tukson's Book Trade'... Or 'Miles' Book Trade' as its called now. Figured I'd stop by and pick up the new volume of my favorite manga as well as some other things." He took a book and some comics out of his bag, showing his newly purchased volume of the manga 'Evolution,' as well as a few new issues of 'Xray and Vav.'

"Wait a second," Crimson said in shock. "YOU CAN READ!?

Ignoring Crimson's comment, Kurai continued to talk. "Miles has a sale on all books from 3:00-4:00 a.m.. After I got this, I decided to go train for a few hours. Then I came back here."

"3:00 a.m.? Did you set an alarm to wake yourself up? If so, how did we not hear it?"

"Wake up? I didn't wake up."

Syfen's eyes widened. "Didn't wake up? Then that could only mean... This is a dream!"

He quickly turned to Crimson and kicked him in the shin. "Ow! What the hell, Syfen!?"

"Oh. I needed to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Guess I'm not..."

"That isn't what you're supposed to do, moron! You're supposed to ask someone else to pinch you!"

"Dude, dream or not, I'm not asking you to pinch me."

Kurai sweat dropped. "N-no. This isn't a dream. I simply didn't sleep."

"Didn't sleep?" Adam asked. "That can't be good for your health."

"Can't help it, dude. Insomniac."

Crimson frowned. "As long as he's not attacking me during his night terrors, I'm fine with it."

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

"...Whatever. Everybody get ready. We need to go eat breakfast."

Crimson nodded. He grabbed Red Death and looked down at it. Not only had Adam repaired it, he upgraded it as well. He had somehow adjusted the metal so it weighed less, yet was stronger than the original. It would let him fight even better than before. 'With this, it will be even easier to become the new leader of the White Fang...'

_LATER_

The school day was close to ending. Kurai and Syfen were barely able to keep up with Professor Oobleck during history class. Adam took notes during Professor Peach's class. Crimson was banging his head on the table, hoping that Professor Port would shut up soon in Grimm studies.

Then came the class the dragon faunus was actually looking forward to.

Combat education.

Well, he somewhat looked forward to it. The only problems he had with it were that he had to sit in front of the blonde nightmare named Yang Xiao Long, and the teacher, Professor Deimos, was somehow even more terrifying than Ruby's older sister.

"ALRIGHT, YA POOP-NOBLERS!" the bald teacher screamed. "TODAY, IS YOUR SECOND DAY OF TRAINING! And for this training exercise..." He pulled out a coffee mug. "NOW! You know what this is for, right?"

"..." Nobody responded.

"Ok. I'll take that as a no. Well today, we'll be practicing defense and offense. Defense is when you're trying to stop someone from brutally terminating you through gruesome ways. Like being choked by your own intestines or taking your spine out and shoving it up your-"

"Ok, ok! We get it!" Kurai yelled, not wanting to hear any more of the creepy man's... Creative ways of murder.

"Aww..." Azazel said. "Why'd you stop him? I wanted to hear more about his methods~"

'Shut up, you whiney sadist.'

Deimos slowly turned to look at the former assassin. "...Ok. Ok. Demon kid wants me to stop. Ok. Fine. I'll stop. Its not like I don't ENJOY TELLING PEOPLE USEFUL FIGHTING METHODS! NOBODY CARES ABOUT DEIMOS' EMOTIONS ANYMORE, DO THEY!? Nobody has since... Bootcamp..." He stared at a wall, looking as though he had just remembered a terrible memory.

"Professor Deimos?" Blake said, concerned.

"Huh? Oh yeah. And offense is when your trying to do those things to the defender. Now, how we are going to practice this, is there will be two students. On a pedestal, there will be a coffee mug. One has to protect it. Meanwhile the other student is trying to take it from you. If the time runs out before the attacker can't get some the coffee to hit the floor within a thirty second time limit, the defender wins. If a single drop hits the floor, the defender loses. Each team will face another team. Each team member will face an opponent in a one-on-one match. The teams fighting each other shall be: CRDL vs JNPR, CRME vs RUST, CFVY vs SSSN, and RWBY vs ACKS. Oh yeah. And to make this more interesting, you must switch weapons with one of the opposing team members."

Crimson's eyes widened in horror. "Please to god don't let me fight Blondie..."

Kurai began to pray. "Dear god of luck. I know I've committed terrible sins in the past, and I have no right to ask for forgiveness, but I beg of you. Please don't make me fight Ruby-chan..."

"Stop praying. If you're so scared of fighting her, just let me take over," Azazel told Kurai. "It'll be fun~!"

'No. I don't want her to get hurt. Especially not by you.'

"Still trying to prevent anyone innocent from suffering, huh? No wonder ya only took assassination jobs that only involved killing criminals. Fine. Then just let her beat ya up."

'First of all, theres no guarantee that I'll fight her. However, Murphy's Law is gonna screw me over and most likely make me fight her. And our objective isn't to fight exactly, so that doesn't have to happen. For all I know, I could be the defender and will have to stay away from her. But I can't just let her beat me up. I don't want her to think I'm weak, and I'm not a sadomasochist like you.'

"Sadomasochist? Where'd ya learn that word?"

'From you.'

"...Oh yeah."

"Kurai?" he heard someone ask.

Kurai's eyes widened and he took a few steps backward in slight surprise. "Oh! Uh, h-hi Ruby-chan!"

"Is something wrong? You seem kind of nervous."

"Nervous? No, I'm not nervous! Just talking to the person in my head is all."

"What?"

"I didn't say anything! Heh, heh. I'm not crazy!"

Ruby smiled. "All my friends are a bit crazy. Its fine if you are as well."

Kurai blushed heavily. "T-t-thats nice to hear."

Ruby giggled. "Your face is as red as my cape. I like you! You're funny!"

"L-like?"

"Anyways, the professor just announced who is fighting who. Team RWBY takes the offensive for the first half while Team ACKS is the attacker for the last two fights. I'm fighting Adam, Weiss is fighting Syfen, Yang is fighting Crimson, and you're fighting Blake."

"Oh." 'Thank you so much, god of luck!'

"He also told us who switches weapons with who. Yang with Crimson, Weiss with Adam, Blake with Syfen, and me with you." She handed him Crescent Rose. "Be careful with her. She's like a daughter to me!"

"Th-thats nice... I'll use it... I mean her with care." He took the Scyfle and took out Pyro. "Here. Take it. Be careful, though. Its very heavy."

"Don't worry! I'm a lot stronger than I look! Now, let me see it!" He handed her the shotgun sword and she grabbed it. "Huh? I don't understand. You said that this was heavy. But its so light!"

"I didn't mean with physical weight."

"Wait, what? What do you mean by that?"

"...I apologize. But I cannot tell you. Not yet, at least." 'If she knew of the burdens it carries... The sins I committed with it... She will hate me. For now, my flames can just be classified as an ordinary semblance, but people will figure it out eventually. For now, though, I can't let anyone know of my past!'

"...I understand. Everybody has secrets. You can just tell me yours when you're ready."

Kurai smiled. "That... Means a lot to me. Thank you."

The teams were allowed five minutes to adjust to their new weapons. Team RWBY, Adam, and Syfen were all able to adjust pretty quickly. Kurai on the other hand...

"So... This is it's rifle form?" Kurai asked as he held Crescent Rose.

"Yup! You know how to use a gun right?"

"Of course I do! My weapon is a gun too, after all. Here. I'll shoot down that can on the table over there." He aimed at the can with the rifle... With his head really close up to the scope.

Ruby's eyes widened. "You-you really shouldn't have your head that close to the-"

Too late. He pulled the trigger, and the weapon's recoil caused him to get hit in the face. He flew back into a wall. Thanks to his aura, he was uninjured, but it still hurt.

Ruby ran over to him. "Are you ok?"

Kurai looked up, and saw that before he was knocked back, he had managed to shoot down the can. "Told ya I could do it!"

Meanwhile, Crimson was facing a very similar issue...

"You have no idea how to use those, do you?" Yang asked, standing behind the dragon Faunus.

"I do!" Crimson said, trying Ember Cecilia on. "You don't know what you're talking about!"

"You have no idea what you're doing!"

"Yes, I do! Watch! I'll use them with ease!"

"Ok then. Use 'em!"

"Fine!" He sent a punch toward the air, and used the gauntlet's built-in shotguns. The force sent him flying backwards. Fortunately, something kept him from going too far. "What?" What he flew into felt soft. Almost like... He turned around, and saw that he had landed between Yang's breasts. "..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Crimson screamed. He was sent flying again from the force of a traditional anime nosebleed. And this time he did hit a wall.

Yang laughed. "He sure went out... With a Yang!"

"Boo!"

"Oh, come on! That was funny!"

Ok, enough about that. Lets move on to the actual fights, shall we~? First up was Ruby vs Adam.

The two teens stared each other down. All other fights had already come and gone. Sun Wukong fought Coco. Sun lost. Jaune fought Cardin. And due to his recent training, Jaune was able to face and beat the bully with ease.

'All I have to do is guard the mug for thirty seconds. This should not be too hard, but I shouldn't underestimate my opponent. According to uncle, she's a prodigy.'

"And begin!"

Ruby took off at breakneck speed. 'So quick!' She was so fast, Adam's eyes were hardly able to keep up. The young girl kept running until she stopped in front of her opponent.

She grinned mischievously and showed the older student that while running, she had grabbed the mug. 'Even her evil side is cute...' Kurai thought.

Adam scowled as she threw the mug into the air. Some drops of the coffee fell out, but would fall to the ground after the mug at the height it would go. She changed Pyro to it's shotgun form, and aimed at the mug in midair.

However, Adam swatted the weapon from her hands using Myrtenaster. He then caught the mug by balancing it on the tip of the rapier. With quick accuracy, he was able to return every loose drop to the mug. He lowered the weapon and grabbed the mug by it's handle. "And thats game," he said, just as the timer went off. He took a sip from it before leaving the arena.

Syfen smirked as he walked onto the arena. 'With that posture, he's almost like a mirror image of his uncle. Just with different colored hair.'

A newly filled coffee mug had been placed on the pedestal. Weiss and Syfen pointed their weapons at each other, the former with Adam's swords and the latter with Blake's Gamble Shroud. "Now fight!"

As soon as the professor screamed, Syfen dashed forward and grabbed Weiss by the wrist. He pinned her to a wall and activated his semblance.

Weiss dropped to the ground, struggling to get up. "What... What kind of semblance is this?"

"Gravity control. I slightly increased the gravity around you to make it harder for you to move. I can't use it for too long, but thirty seconds is long enough."

"Hmph. Some way to treat a lady."

A few more seconds passed, and the buzzer went off. Syfen deactivated his semblance, freeing Weiss. He walked to the pedestal, grabbed the coffee mug, and drank the whole thing in one gulp. He ran back over to his team, and Weiss did the same. "I won, Adam! I won!"

"Yes. Good job, Syfen." He looked at Kurai. "You're up next. Remember. Unlike us, you're an attacker. Not a defender."

The ex-assassin nodded. "Got it." He walked onto the ring with Blake. The coffee mug had once again been filled. Kurai transformed Crescent Rose into it's scythe mode. "I hope we have a good fight."

Blake took out Syfen's weapon in it's blade form. "As do I."

"And begin!"

Kurai lowered his weapon. He calmly walked over to Blake. He stopped when he was standing right in front of her. He looked up at her, and smiled. 'What is he up to?' the former White Fang member thought. 'This isn't behavior someone should exhibit in a fight.'

Kurai's smile immediately dropped, and his eyes widened. As quick as possible, he swung Crescent Rose at her. He was shocked when he saw that it passed though his target. 'Crap! Did I really just kill her!? But her aura should have protected...' He then noticed that it wasn't actually Blake he hit. It was some sort of shadow. He looked to his right to see Blake with her weapon pointed at him, unharmed. 'I see now. Her semblance...'

'He waited until my guard was lowered to attack. And the second it did, he stuck without hesitation. I know what he is... The sound of his breath is undetectable. His footsteps are silent. His jet-black flames. The ability to look like he means no harm until the last second. He wasn't trained to eliminate Grimm... He was trained to murder. He's the dark-flame assassin!'

Kurai, seeing that his opponent was distracted, transformed Crescent Rose into it's rifle form. He aimed at the mug, ready to shoot and break the mug. "And this means victory for me."

Blake noticed this and quickly dashed forward, with Syfen's weapon now in it's bow form. Before the former assassin could pull the trigger, she shot an arrow, which shot down the barrel of the rifle, jamming it. "Its over now," the cat Faunus said as the buzzer went off.

When they walked off of the arena, Kurai tried to unjam Crescent Rose. While he did this, Blake walked over to him. The former assassin looked up at the former White Fang member. "Hey. Good fight."

"Kurai Mirai. Is it possible that you are...?"

"Yup! And not just possibly! I really am a proud huntsman in training!"

"You know that isn't what I meant."

Kurai frowned. 'She knows.' "So you are aware of my previous occupation? I was hoping nobody would figure it out."

"So its true. You really are the dark-flame assassin. You know, you really shouldn't be so surprised. Your black flames should be a dead giveaway. I'm surprised I didn't figure it out before. Why is it that you are here? If you are here to kill someone, me and the rest of my team won't let you."

"Don't be ridiculous. The dark flame assassin is dead. He died when I finally decided to give up my career of assassination. The person you are looking at is Kurai Mirai. A simple huntsman in training. And before you ask, the headmaster already knows of my past life."

"I see." 'A former criminal... Just like me...' "So what you want to do is erase the sins you have committed?"

"Erase? No. That would be impossible. A true sin is something you can never erase, no matter how hard you try. And no matter how justified it is, murder is the evilest kind of sin. I guess that makes me as bad as that Torchwick villain. If not worse."

"..." 'So he's accepted the evil within his soul and embraces it. I wonder how long it took him to do that...'

"Can we keep this a secret between us? I don't want to lose my only chance of having friends by scaring them away."

"I understand. I will not tell anyone."

"Thank you. You should probably return to your team. Crimson and his Yang's fight is about to begin."

The cat Faunus looked at the arena, and saw Yang ready to beat the crap out of Crimson, and Crimson, who looked unsure of what to do. "I suppose you're right. Goodbye for now."

"See ya!" The former assassin looked at the two who were about to fight.

He failed to notice that a certain orange-haired bully had heard everything he and Blake had said. 'So, the kid has a secret that he doesn't want to be revealed. We'll use him the same way we used Jaune...'

"I'm gonna punch your lights out, pretty boy!" Yang yelled.

"What the hell am I supposed to do? She's a girl! Where do I hit her!? Speaking of which, how the hell are you not hurt by those boobs!? No, cross that out, those aren't breasts, they're tumors!"

"Huh?"

"They're just so big! Its nonsense! Its like, if you jumped, gravity would just take them, and rip 'em right off your chest!"

"Buddy, my eyes are up here. If you want to win this fight, you shouldn't focus on my cleavage. Do that some other time."

"Begin the battle!" Crimson tried to shoot with the shot-gauntlets, but was propelled backwards again. To stop himself, he stomped extremely hard, and dug his feet into the newly formed miniature holes in the floor. "You're paying for that!" With nothing to stop him now, he started blasting shot after shot. Yang was quick when it came to dodge every last one of the shells.

When he ran out of ammo, he took Ember Cecilia off and threw the weapons to the ground. "Hey! I built those myself! Don't hurt them!" Crimson ignored the yelling. He took his feet out of the holes he made and ran toward the mug. As he ran, Yang swung one of the daggers at her opponent. Crimson was easily able to dodge the swing, but was knocked back when she kicked him in the face. He got up and ran at the blonde female.

Once he was right in front of Yang, he jumped over her. When he landed, he pushed the blonde, making her lose balance. He walked over to the mug and sent a cocky smirk in Yang's direction. He raised his hand, ready to strike the mug. "Pathetic. This is why my kind is superior to yours!"

He closed his eyes and started to laugh. And since he was doing this, he never noticed Yang headed toward him. She kicked him in the face with both feet, sending the dragon Faunus into the wall. "I think that wraps things up," the brawler said right as the buzzer went off.

"Damnit!" Crimson yelled. "I wanted to win!"

"And so does everyone else. Stop being a sore loser~!"

"Why you little-!"

"And now your calling me something little despite your comments about my chest and gravity not mixing before? Not very consistent, are ya~?"

The undercover White Fang member growled in annoyance. "Just shut up..."

"Final score for Team RWBY and ACKS!" Deimos called out. "2-2! Tie!"

"Darn it!" Some of the team members yelled.

"Alright, for your final training exercise for today, teams will fight each other in four-on-four battles. Get your weapons back so we can begin this brawl! Fights will be RWBY vs JNPR, SSSN vs CFVY, CRDL vs RUST, and ACKS vs CRME!"

As Yang and Crimson gave each other back their weapons, Crimson spoke. "So... Team CRME... Who are they?"

"Oh. They're that team over there." She pointed at a group consisting of a gold/orange-eyed woman wearing a red dress, a dark-skinned girl with mint green hair, a male with silvery-gray hair and strange looking boots, and finally, a boy nearly covered in red and black armor. "From what I've heard, their names are Mercury, Emerald, Rolland, and Cinder."

"Wait, whoa, whoa, hold up a tick. Cinder? As in... Cinder Fall?"

"Oh, so you know her?"

"Not personally. Then... Is Rolland also known as... Balam?"

"That's his nickname. How do you know about them?"

Yang received no response. A twisted smirk formed on Crimson's lip. 'Finally. I get to meet the ass clown that took my rightful place. I'll beat the crap out of him as vengeance!' He laughed in a very creepy fashion. Much like that scene Weiss had in episode 4, dark storm clouds formed behind him. Except much less symbolically and much more literally.

"Uh... Ruby?"

"Yeah?" the younger of the two sisters answered as she walked up to the blonde girl.

"You... You see the lightning clouds too, right?"

"Y-yeah... I do."

"Ok, good. I thought I was going insane."

The fights went on as planned. Everyone watched from their seats. Intrigued by each of the fights, the students payed close attention to the battles. Well, all students except for one: Crimson. Instead of watching his fellow students' battles, he kept staring at Team CRME, occasionally laughing. 'I can finally get my revenge on him. And stop them from hurting anybody else... Wait, why did I think that? I don't care if they hurt or kill anyone! Do I? I mean, my teammates might be idiots, but they're kind and accepting, and so is Team RWBY... The exact opposite of the humans I was taught to hate. Could I have been wrong about the human race...? No. This group of humans is unique. As shown by those CRDL assholes, humans are also capable of being the exact definition of the humans I was told about. Perhaps I do care for some of this school's humans... When it is time for whatever they have planned, I'll make sure only the unique humans live. I'll just let them be the test subjects for the White Fang's new experiment.'

JNPR won against RWBY, CFVY beat SSSN, and the new Team RUST defeated CRDL (With hardly any effort). Now, it was time for ACKS vs CRME to fight. Balam noticed that Crimson was smirking evilly at him. "Whats with that smug look on your face, animal?"

"What? You mean you don't know who I am?"

"Not a clue." Crimson noticed him roll his eyes.

"Ok, heres a hint. I'm the guy who was supposed to have your spot on Cinder's team."

"Oh, right. Crimson Ta-"

"Shh! Don't say that! I'm incognito. None of the other students can know who I am. For the time being, I am Crimson Denki."

"Whatever. You never answered my question."

"You wanna know why I've got this smirk? I got this smirk because today, I get to beat the crap out of you!"

"I see. You seek vengeance upon me for taking your position."

"Damn straight I want revenge! I'll completely destroy you!"

"Fool. You must calm down. All rage can do in a battle is make your blade useless. How can you expect to win if anger is preventing you from focusing?"

"Oh? And just why are you giving advice to your opponent?"

"Opponent? No. You must be mistaken. You aren't an opponent. The only ones I consider to be my actual enemies are those who are stronger than me. Ones who are weaker, such as you, are just lambs for slaughter."

"Why, you son of a-! How dare you! I guarantee I can kick your ass all the way from here to Vacuo!"

"I'd like to see you try, lamb."

"Oh ho, this thing is on now!" He walked back to his own team, who were discussing battle strategy.

"Heres the plan," Adam said. "I'll fight Emerald, Syfen fights Cinder, Kurai fights Rolland, and Crimson will fight Mercury."

"Uh, no way am I letting that happen. The one who'll be beating down the black knight, is me."

"You want to fight Rolland? Oh yes, now I remember. You have a grudge against him for taking your place on Cinder Fall's team." He sighed. "Very well. Kurai will fight be the one to fight Mercury, and you will get to fight Balam. Is everyone fine with this?"

"I'm fine."

"Sounds great."

"Lets get some bacon from the supermarket before we go home!"

"Good. Now, prepare for battle. Its about to begin."

"Now fight!" Deimos screamed.

"Ok, guys. Stick to the pl-"

"CHARGE!" Kurai and Crimson yelled as they ran at their respective targets.

"...Huh. Well they're off. That just leaves you and me, Syfen. So, lets stay in formation, and-"

"FOR BACON!" Syfen rushed off as well.

"...Or everyone but me could just run in without strategy... This is gonna be an extremely long day..."

"My opponent is you!" Crimson yelled as he rushed at Balam, and tried to sucker punch him in the face.

Balam caught his fist, and kicked Crimson in the gut, making him cough up blood. "You aren't worth my time." Right after he finished his sentence, Crimson kneed him in the jaw, knocking the armored boy back. He glared at Crimson. "I think you dented my helmet. How rude. An act like that deserves punishment."

He jumped back and took out his weapon. Crimson tilted his head at the sight of it. It was a sword. "Oh? A sword and a spiked shield?"

"Its much more than that." He swung the blade. However, in mid-swing, the blade broke apart into several pieces. The fragments were sent flying toward him as projectiles.

Crimson evaded it with ease. After swiftly dodging every one of the pieces, Crimson laughed. "You think you can beat me with aim like that?"

"I wasn't aiming for you."

"What? Oh..." It only took him a moment to realize that he really wasn't Rolland's target. His target was the other students. "S**t!" the dragon Faunus cursed as he ran toward the blades at a speed normal people could only dream of. He quickly got in front of the blade pieces before they could hit anyone else. He used his daggers to deflect most of them with daggers. However, the last one hit his armored arm guards and stuck there. It didn't hurt, but it was annoying. "Heh. No way am I letting you do that."

"You really are a fool." Crimson noticed that a small red light on Balam's shield had begun to

"Huh?" He heard a 'beeping' sound coming from the sword fragments. "Oh. Oh... They're bombs..." As quickly as possible, he grabbed all of the blade fragments and threw them back at their owner.

Balam raised his shield. All of the blades stuck to it and exploded. The force of it sent him flying. Crimson rushed to him with his daggers, and cut him with a 20 hit combo, and afterwards, kicked him away. Balam got up and took out another blade. He attached it to his sword and swung it. However, this time when the blade broke apart, the fragments were attached to something. It almost looked like...

"A whip of blades!?" He raised his arm to block, abut the whip wrapped around his arm. He frowned. The Faunus brought his arm backwards, causing Balam to come flying toward him. He punched Rolland into the ground. Then, he jumped to the ceiling, bringing Balam with him and making him smash into it. Without wasting any more time, he jumped back to the floor, making his opponent crash into the ground. The whip unwrapped from his hand. Crimson walked over to the unconscious body of Balam, and took out his blades. "Goodnight. Human scum."

Before he could finish his opponent off, someone's boot smashed into his face. A shotgun blast was shot from said boot, knocking the disguised Whiter Fang member back. Crimson looked pissed once he recovered.

"Alright, whose got the balls to do that!?"

"That would be me!" Crimson looked at the speaker.

"Mercury Black? But how...?" He looked over at his teammate. "Kurai, you ass! You were supposed to fight him!"

"I was! But he saw that you defeated your own opponent and decided to go after you instead!"

The two started to argue. Taking advantage of this distraction, Mercury delivered a shotgun-propelled spin kick to the back of Kurai's skull, knocking him down. "Ah ah ah! Mistake number one. You took your eyes off of your opponent."

"Bastard." Crimson muttered as Kurai got up.

"Alright Mercury! Give it up! As of now, its two against one!"

"Oh, really now? You sure about that?"

"What is he-?" Crimson was interrupted. He was punched him in the back, knocking him forward.

"You miscalculated," a familiar voice told him. "Its two vs two."

"Oh, come on!" Crimson yelled as he jumped to his feet. "I knocked you out cold!"

Balam smirked. "Yeah well, I wasn't unconscious per say, just a little tired. Did you really think you could beat me, little lamb?"

Crimson growled at him in response.

"Crimson-san," Kurai said. "Calm yourself. I know you're gonna be against this plan but... Lets switch opponents. Only for a minute."

"Switch opponents? No way! I refuse to-!"

"Just for a minute. To see who can do more damage."

"Are you challenging me to a contest to see who can beat up their opponents more?"

"I guess you could say it like that."

"Sounds fun, actually. Alright, I accept. Oh, and just a word of advice. His sword has explosives in it. You might be able to use your fire to forcefully activate them."

"Alright." He allowed Azazel to take over, and black flames erupted from his body. "Sounds quite interesting." He focused most of his fire into his right palm, and ran at his opponent. "Hasta la vista, baby!"

"Wait, not at pointblank range, you freaking putz!" To late! Kurai's flames reached the blade, and the explosives went off. The force didn't kill them, but it sent Kurai and Balam flying in separate directions. When they landed, both of their aura levels dropped into the red zone, thus disqualifying him. Crimson face-palmed. "Great. Just f-" Mercury roundhouse kicked him in the shoulder, interrupting him mid-curse, knocking his aura into the red zone. And also dislocating the shoulder. He was now out of the fight. "Cheap shot!"

And much like Crimson, Syfen got distracted by the explosion, Cinder knocked attacked, knocking his aura into the red zone, disqualifying him. Then, everyone went after Adam.

Adam was pinned up against a wall with Cinder in front of him, with Mercury on his left and Emerald to his left. Mercury tried to kick him, but Adam moved out of the way, and Mercury hit Emerald instead. "Oh s**t..." the boy with the shotgun boots cursed when he saw how pissed the mint-haired girl looked.

Adam used the pommel of his sword to hit him in the back of the head, knocking him out. He then brought up his sword, blocking an attack from Cinder. Afterwards, Adam side-kicked her, and rushed toward her. Emerald tripped him before he could get to close. As he lied on the ground, Cinder picked up his sword and dropped the hilt onto the back of his head, and afterwards, struck one of his pressure points, knocking him out. She smirked. "Whoops. Sorry. My fingers slipped."

"Team CRME wins the match! Class is over! Hey! Team Jupiter!"

"Its actually pronounced-" Pyrrha began.

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR A SPELL CHECK MISS GRAMMAR NAZI! I want you to bring little boy green to the infirmary!"

"Understood, sir!" Nora said as she picked up the unconscious fighter and ran out the door to the infirmary with him.

Ren sighed. "Lets go after her. To make sure she doesn't drop him." He ran after her.

"Yeah," Jaune said. "Good idea." He and Pyrrha left as well.

"I'll go too," Syfen said. "To make sure Adam's ok." He was next to leave.

"Yeah," Crimson said. He noticed Kurai was leaving the classroom, along with most other students. "You do that." He saw Yang walking over to him. "Oh, uh... Hey Yang."

"I saw that Balam dislocated his shoulder. You want me to help with that?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Sorry, but this might be a little painful. Ok? Ok. One... Two... Three!" She forced Crimson's shoulder back into place making him holler in pain.

"Damn it! That hurts!"

"Told you it would. Now, does it feel better though?"

"I guess..."

"Good! Anyways, I've gotta go! See ya later, Crimsy!"

Crimson watched her run off. A small laugh escaped his lips. "That girl..." He blushed. 'Wait, what am I thinking!? She's a human! I can't possibly have a crush on her!' He then felt someone put their hand on his other shoulder. Balam's hand.

"Its nearly time for the show to start," he heard Rolland say. "Come to our dorm later tonight. We'll discuss the plan."

Crimson frowned. "Balam...? Fine. I'll go."

Kurai went to leave, but before he could, he heard someone whisper his unwanted nickname. "Hey. Demon kid."

He glared at the one who spoke. It was Cardin, who stood beside his teammates. "Why does everyone insist on calling me that name?"

"Don't know why he doesn't like it," Dove said. "It actually sounds kind of badass."

"Shut up! Don't compliment his name! Anyways, we're losing focus. Back to the main subject. Kurai Mirai, we know your secret."

"My secret? What are you-?"

"We heard your talk with the shadow girl."

"They know about your former job~"

'I know. What should I do? There are to many witnesses right now... Might as well play along.' He pretended to act scared and nervous. "Oh no! Please don't tell anyone! I'll do anything!"

"Oh, theres no reason to worry kid. Provided you help us with a few things, our lips are sealed." He patted him on the head. "We've got big plans for you, little assassin. But for now, I want you to get some things for us." He gave him a... Shopping list? "I expect these to be delivered to our dorm at no later than 10:00. No later. See you then." They walked off.

"So... Does that mean I can do what I want to them?" Azazel asked.

"That depends..." He took out Pyro, and looked at his reflection in the blade. "On their response tonight."

_LATER_

Adam had recovered quite quickly. The rest of their day was pretty normal. By the time 9:55, the team was already sleeping. Well, except for two of the members: A Faunus and a former assassin with insomnia. Unlike Kurai, Crimson was at least pretending to sleep. 'Damn it... Why can't demon kid just leave already so I can go to CRME's dorm? I can't go with him just sitting there! And what the hell is he even doing? Is polishing his weapon?' As soon as Crimson finished that thought, Kurai got up and walked to the dorm room door. "Are you leaving?" he asked curiously.

"Oh. Crimson-san. Didn't know that you were awake. Don't mind me. Just gonna go for a walk to clear my head."

Crimson knew that he was lying. If he really was just going for a walk, why would he bring his weapon? However, to Crimson, it didn't really matter what Kurai was going to do. As long as it gets him out of the dorm, he was fine with it. "Alright. Whatever."

Kurai nodded and left.

Crimson sighed with relief. He looked at the other members of the team, making sure that they were asleep. When he was sure they were, he walked to the window and opened it, seeing it pouring rain outside. 'CRME is my ally... So why do I feel so guilty about going to them?' He sighed. He stepped out onto to the wet ledge. He closed the window and shuffled over to the wall beside it. He then decided to look down...

And immediately regretted his decision. He pressed his body against the wall, fearing that he might fall. From the ledge five stories up. Needless to say, Crimson was terrified of heights. In fact, it was his greatest fear.

He breathed rather quickly, with eyes as wide as saucers. "Its ok Crimson... You've survived falls much higher than this... You can do this... You're a dragon Faunus... You're place is in the sky, after all... Oh great! Now I'm talking to myself like the assassin!"

After shuffling across the ledge, he finally reached the window to CRME's dorm. He rapidly knocked on the glass. Mercury opened the window, and looked at the shivering Faunus. "Took you long enough. Hey, nobody saw you, right? It would be pretty weird if someone saw a guy moving across a wall like an idiot."

"JUST LET ME IN!" Crimson yelled as he jumped through the window. "I thought I was gonna die!"

"Is this really Adam's brother, Cinder?" Emerald asked.

"He is," Cinder responded. "Although I never expected him to be so... Cowardly."

"S-s-shut up! I have a fear of heights, so what!? Its a common problem!"

"Oh?" Balam said. "Wasn't part of your White Fang training jumping out at of planes that were extremely high up in the air?"

"And how do you think I developed that fear!? That s**t scared the f**k out of me!"

"Oh, quit being such a wimp!" Mercury said. "Most Beacon students got launched off of a catapult into a forest during year one, and hardly anyone was bitching about that."

"I told you all to shut up!"

"Children, be quiet," Cinder said. "We don't want to wake up our neighbors now do we?"

Crimson pouted. "He started it..."

"I don't care. Now, its time to go over the details of our plan."

"And that plan is...?"

"Well... It goes like this..."

_MEANWHILE AT CRDL'S DORM_

"Man, where is that kid with our stuff?" Russel asked.

"Didn't you tell him 10:00 is the latest, Cardin?" Sky asked.

"I did!" Cardin replied.

"Then why ain't he here yet!? Its 10:05 and he still isn't here!" Dove said.

"Maybe he thought we were referring to 10:00 A.M.? Or perhaps he really doesn't care if his secret gets leaked? Whatever. It doesn't matter. A deals a deal. Now we tell the entire school that Kurai Mirai is-!"

Cardin immediately stopped talking when he felt the cold steel of a sword pressed up to his neck. Just one slice away from beheading him. His teammates were shocked. Behind Cardin stood the dark-flame assassin himself, ready to cut off their leader's head off. Before they could do anything, Kurai spoke. "Move and I will kill you. Speak and I will kill you. Use your semblances and I will kill you. If you understand me, slowly reach out your right hand out and then lower it."

Fearing for their lives, the team did what they were told to do.

Kurai smirked. "You will not tell anyone what my past occupation was. And if you do... You remember my friend Azazel, don't you Mr. Lark? Well, if you dare to utter one word about this or my former job to anyone, I'll personally make sure he takes care of you all. He'll take you out when you least expect it. When you're sleeping... When you're talking a dump... It could happen anywhere, provided he gets to scare you first. And he won't just kill you, oh no. I know he would love to torture you first. Azazel will personally enjoy it. So. Answer this question. What will you do?"

"K-keep our mouths shut about anything related to you being an assassin?" Russel guessed.

"That's right~" He removed Pyro from Cardin's neck. "Remember. Don't say a word about me, or else... Well, you get it." For a second, the team could have sworn his eyes faded slightly. The former assassin opened the team's window, and jumped to the ground. They looked at him from their window. They saw him use his right hand to symbolize someone talking. Then, he motioned his thumb across his throat, showing that he will kill them.

"That kid ain't just a freak. He's the devil! The actual devil!"

_MEANWHILE_

"And thats the plan," Cinder finished.

"And this takes place only a few days from now?" Crimson asked.

"That is correct," Emerald responded.

"And you get a large part in it, child," Balam responded.

"I suggest you prepare. Go back to your dorm and sleep. You won't be able to focus on the mission if you're tired."

Crimson frowned. "Fine." He opened the window. "Farewell." He walked out onto the ledge and closed the window. He looked down...

And instantly remembered how he felt on the way to CRME's dorm.

Crimson's breath once again became heavy and quick. "You got across once, Crimson. You can do it again. Just stay calm, and-" Before he could finish his sentence, he slipped and fell.

Fortunately, he was able to grab onto the ledge for the fourth story, the story level right below the one he was on.

The boy quickly pulled himself up. "Crap, the was terrifying! I gotta be more..." He stopped talking when he saw what was in front of him: Team RWBY's dorm window. From the looks of it, the RWB part of the team was still out somewhere. However, Yang Xiao Long was there, and appeared to be getting ready for a good night's sleep. So, she first had to change into her night clothes. Crimson had arrived at the exact moment she took off her top, allowing the Faunus to see her exposed chest.

At the sight of her breasts, Crimson, for the second time today, took off like a rocket by a massive nose bleed. He got sent flying to the ground. As he lied in the grass with his blood-stained attire, he opened his mouth and spoke. "At least I'll die after seeing something beautiful..."

Kurai, who was nearby, walked over to him. "Holy crap, you look messed up! What the hell did I miss!?"

_LATER_

Adam felt someone tap his shoulder. He opened his eyes and rolled over. He saw Crimson looking at him. "Yeah?"

Crimson sighed. "Look. I'm just gonna be straightforward with you. I'm sick of losing all the time. If I want to win, I have to become stronger. And because of that, I want you to train me."

Adam, half-asleep, responded. "Ok..." He instantly fell back to sleep.

Crimson sweat-dropped. "Well... That was easier than I expected." 'I wonder... When the time comes, will I really have the heart to go against these guys?'

**TO BE CONTINUED...**


	4. Author's Note Please Read

_I know a lot of you might want to hate me. And... The hatred is justified with how long it takes for updates. But heres the thing. Writing fanfiction is simply a hobby for me. I have things to do that I prioritize above writing these stories. Therefore, all updates are really slow. I do occasionally enjoy writing, but most of the time it feels more like a chore than a hobby. I apologize for the wait, but that is simply how I operate. I am working on chapter 4 of Team ACKS at the moment. I am currently over 10,000 words in and am about ninety percent done._

_So. RWBY Volume 3 has ended. And so did my joy. My god, it was depressing. It's like nothing could possibly go right for the good guys. They even killed two major protagonists! I know that theres the theory that Pyrrah was actually teleported somewhere else and not killed, but that eulogy her voice actress gave her makes her death seem far too probable. Also, Blake... Why?! I know you left to protect her and everybody else, but you put your partner in a depressed, and possibly suicidal state! And to top it all off, the episode was released on Valentines Day, of all times! Really?! Rooster Teeth, I respect you, but... You sadistic bastards, are you trying to give single guys like me even more of a reason to be depressed?! I... I just wish we could go back. Back to the beginning. To the beginning of RWBY. When this series was something we could smile and cheer for. Not cry and sob over. Hopefully Volume 4 does gives us that feeling back, although I highly doubt it. But, I didn't just come here to give a review on how nearly everything I liked about this show has disappeared. I've come to talk about how this will affect Team ACKS._

_Ok, there will be some large differences between this story, and the canon RWBY series. First off, the Vytal festival will take place at different times. In the canon series, the festival takes place during team RWBY's first year. In this story, it will take place during the second year. That way, Team ACKS competes in it as well. All of the battles during the first phase of the tournament (the ones with full teams), will remain the same with the exception of Cinder's team's battle, as Neo will not be present. Balam is their fourth member instead. That being said, the canon battles of phase one will be mentioned, but will not be described in complete detail. Secondly, Cinder's plan will be changed, drastically. She will not get the maiden's abilities, but Pyrrah does not either. Either way, Pyrrah lives, so that's good. Arkos for life. We have an entirely different use for the powers. Ruby will still have her silver eyes powers. The meeting at the end of episode 3 of Volume 3 will mainly stay the same, aside from Qrow and Ozpin discussing a new villain for this story, as well as them discussing the fate of Summer. I think that is it for the differences. For now at least. On a side note, all cursing will now be uncensored. In the next chapter, four new villains will be introduced. I'm especially excited for one of them, because not only is he or she (not gonna say which now) the overall main villain in this story, but he/she's also based upon one of my all time favorite villains in anime._

_Well, time to attempt to get rid of this sadness. Maybe I'll binge watch a happy series like Beelzebub or Amagi Brilliant Park again... Hell, maybe I'll draw some new Dark Rose pics as well. Theres always D Gray Man and Accel World I can look forward to, as well..._


	5. Tournament

**ACKS Chapter 4- Tournament**

_Disclaimer- The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own anything except the OCs. Team DWKC belongs to Avier-Arts. Also, from this point on, Azazel's dialog will be italicized._

_Crimson was horrified. Everything was in flames. The horrid smell sent all his senses into disarray. He knelt to the ground next to one of the many bodies. "Kurai? Are you alright?"_

_No response was given._

_Crimson looked at two of the other figures. "Adam? Syfen?"_

_He spotted one more body, lying in a pool of blood._

_"Yang? Damn it! Stop fooling around! Answer me! Come on, get up!"_

_The only sound he heard was the fire burning everything around him._

_"Who... Who the hell did this?! I'll kill you!"_

_"Oh?" he heard someone speak. He turned around and saw Cinder walking towards him. In her palm, she held a sphere of fire. "You don't remember?"_

_"Was it you? Are you the one who killed them?!"_

_The woman smirked. "You children are always so forgetful. The one who caused this massacre was not me, Crimson Taurus. The culprit is none other than yourself."_

_Crimson looked down at his hands. They were covered in blood. The blood of his Beacon allies._

* * *

Crimson awoke with a gasp. He looked around. He was in his team's dorm. 'A nightmare? Why? Why would I have a nightmare like that?'

He was forced out of his thoughts as someone tackled him, knocking him out of his bed. "Rise and shine, good buddy!"

Adam sighed. "Syfen, get off of him. It is rude to do something like that so early in the morning."

Syfen pouted. "Aww... But he doesn't mind it! Right, Crimson? You'd tell me if you had a problem with this, right?"

"Yeah. I would. In fact I'm gonna tell you right now. I have a major problem with this. Get off."

"Oh!" Syfen jumped away from him. "I'm so sorry!"

"Just don't ever do that again. Where's Kurai?"

"I am not sure. Knowing him though, he is most likely training."

_MEANWHILE_

"I just can't get with the rhythm!" Kurai shouted, trying to beat his high score on 'Guitar Legend,' which just so happened to be a cheap ripoff of Guitar Hero.

"Can't get with the rhythm?!" another kid yelled at him. "You've already set three new records! Now let the other kids in the arcade have a freaking turn!"

_BACK AT BEACON_

"Yeah, definitely training."

Adam nodded. "Speaking of which... Crimson. Come with me."

"Hmm? What do ya need me for?"

"You asked last night if I could train you. We're going to do that now." He opened the door. "Follow me."

"Oh... Uh, ok!"

"Wait a second!" Syfen yelled. "What do I do while you're gone?"

"Well, the dorm has been pretty messy lately. It would be very helpful if you were to clean it." Adam closed the door behind him and Crimson.

"Clean..." Syfen grinned and saluted to the door. "I won't disappoint you!"

_LATER_

Kurai walked through the halls of Beacon. "This is bullcrap," he stated. "They can't just kick me out! All I did was play that game!"

_"For five hours straight," Azazel added. "Not ever listening to the manager of the arcade to give anyone else a turn."_

"Ah, shut up. I was in a zone. They can't stop me once I'm in a zone."

_"I could tell. You couldn't hear anything, could you? You wouldn't stop, even when I told you that you could play games much greater than that."_

"Actually I could hear you. I was simply ignoring you. I didn't care for any of the titles you suggested."

_"What?! But those games are awesome! Who could possibly resist the brutality from Gore Party and the violence from Devil's Blood?!"_

"Any person with a shred of sanity."

_"...You're talking to yourself. You have no sanity."_

"I have sanity!"

_"Really now? 'Cause I think everyone else disagrees. You've been speaking out loud to nobody they can see or hear."_

"Huh?" He looked around. All the students he had passed by were giving him strange looks. 'Oh... Right...'

_"Forgot you could speak to me through our mental link, didn't you?"_

'Oh, shut up!'

"Oh, hey Kurai!" Kurai saw Ruby, who was struggling to drag around some kind of metal box. What was in it was a mystery. "Good morning!"

The former assassin grinned when he saw her. "Morning beautiful- I MEAN RUBY-CHAN!" he screamed the last part, attempting to correct himself.

"...Ok. Nice to see ya! You ready for the Vytal tournament next week?"

"Heh, heh. Of course. Although... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. In fact, i'm almost terrified. Millions of people will be watching us fight. Observing every move I make..."

"Hmm? Do you have stage fright or something like that?"

"...Guess you could say something like that."

_"You sure it ain't because someone might recognize you as the dark flame assassin~?"_

'Shut up, Azazel.'

Ruby smiled. "Don't worry. Everyone experiences it in life. I'm a little nervous too, but I always forget about it when I think about all the weapons I'll see there!"

"Weapons?"

"Yeah! Everyone will have their own to bring and I always love seeing new ones. Its like meeting new people, only better and easier!"

_"Heh. I think that means she cares more about a tool of death than you~"_

'I told you to shut up, Azazel...' "You really like weapons, don't you?"

Ruby's grin dropped and her cheeks flushed. "Oh... Sorry about that. I tend to get like that when I think about weapons... You probably think I'm a total geek now, don't you?"

"N-no! Of course not! It's not dorky at all! It's actually sort of cute."

"You think I'm cute?"

Kurai's eyes widened. "No no no no! I didn't say cute!"

"So... I'm not cute?"

"No, I never said you weren't cute! In fact you're the most kawaii girl I've ever seen, but...! Never mind. Anyways, what's with the crate?"

"This? I'm gonna make some upgrades to Crescent Rose. Although... All the tools I need for them are in this box, and it weighs quite a lot. But it's really heavy, and it's a real struggle to drag it to the armory."

"Why not just use the tools provided at the armory?"

"Well, those are good, but I'd much rather use the ones my Uncle Qrow gave me."

"Qrow?" 'Strange...'

_"That name sound familiar to you as well?"_ Azazel asked.

'Yeah... I think dad said something about a man named Qrow, and how Prometheus was weak for losing to him. You know, before the jerk left.'

"Kurai? Kurai, hey Remnant to Mirai!" Kurai was forced out of his thoughts by Ruby.

"Oh, uh... What's up? What did you just say?"

Ruby sighed. "You space out way too much. I asked if something was wrong."

"Nothing is wrong. So... You're having a little trouble getting that to the the armory?"

"Yeah. It weighs quite a lot..."

"Well, if you'd like, I could help you..."

"Really? That'd be awesome! Thank you so much!"

Kurai blushed heavily. "I-It's no big deal, really..." He attempted to pick up the box, and soon realized that he could hardly even lift it. 'Holy crap, she wasn't exaggerating! Her passion for weapons must be strong if she's able to drag it this far.'

_"Or perhaps she is actually physically stronger than you. It wouldn't be surprising, seeing how her sister has such a terrifying amount of power. Not to mention that because you burn through calories like a furnace, you're built like a toothpick~"_

"Shut up! We agreed not to speak of my physique! And it's your fault I look like this!"

"Uh, Kurai? Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, just thinking out loud... Let's go..."

_BEACON'S TRAINING ROOM_

Crimson breathed heavily. He widened his stance, prepared to attack his opponent again. "I gotta say, this new sword you made me is pretty sweet. What did you say it was made of, again?"

"Adamant," the team leader responded. "The ultimate metal of Remnant. It is even tougher than diamond."

"Heh, heh. Big mistake giving it to me. It's gonna make defeating you so much easier."

"Don't be so sure. I am the metal's creator, and I know everything about it. All its strengths and weaknesses. Not only that, but my semblance can change its properties. If I desired, I could quickly break them with one swing. However, to make this fight fair, I'll refrain from using it."

"You're using a handicap to face me? Fine by me. Although I'd much rather show ya how badly I could kick your ass when you're going all out."

Adam narrowed his eyes. "Crimson. Do you know the first rule of combat?"

"Huh? Of course I do!" He rushed toward Adam. "The first rule is to hit the enemy!"

"Incorrect." Crimson swung his blade, and Adam dodged by sidestepping it. "The first rule is to not get hit."

Crimson growled and swung again. Adam simply stepped back to dodge it. "Stop dodging and let me hit you!"

He swung more rapidly, but Adam dodged every last attack. "This has gone on long enough," Adam stated as he finally swung one of his two twin blades, knocking Crimson to the floor.

"Damn it, how are you so strong?!"

"...Crimson... What is it that you fight for?"

"What do I fight for?"

"Do you fight for others or for yourself?"

"Err... I'd have to say the latter..."

"In that case, you fight for pride. Because of that, your resolve is much weaker than mine. Ever since that tragic day, I swore to protect the innocent. And so I trained. Every single day. Building up my strength to keep anyone else from suffering through the same fate I did."

"So? What's your point?"

"My point is that as long as you fight for pride alone, you'll never be able to beat me. A will to protect is much stronger than pride. Find something to protect and throw away all your vanity. Only then will you have a chance against me."

"Ugh. That's so stupid. You sound like some idiotic superhero."

"Perhaps. But it is true. That is why CRDL is weak. Even the White Fang has something to fight for."

"Whatever. I'm leaving." He got up and walked toward the door.

"Do as you'd like. I will continue to train here."

"Yeah, whatever."

He opened the door, and saw two familiar people passing by. "Oh god, I can't take much more of this!"

"Don't worry Kurai! Not much further!" Both appeared to be in slight pain.

Crimson narrowed his eyes. "What are you two idiots doing?"

"Oh, hey Crimson-san..." Kurai said in between breaths. "What's up?"

"Demon kid, why are you and your girlfriend so out of breath?"

"S-she's not my girlfriend... Not yet, at least..."

"Well, you're definitely doing nothing to hide your desire for her. Anyways, what are you two doing, huffing and puffing like you just got through M-rated activities?"

"Well... Ruby-chan was having some trouble getting this to the armory, so I decided to give her a hand."

"Oh, ok." He then whispered into the ex-assassin's ear. "Hoping she'll give you a hand later?" He made sure to say it quietly so only Kurai could hear him. He didn't want the girl to hear him and get punched into another wall by Goldilocks once again.

"Say what?"

"You know? The french handshake? The tug of love? Five fingers of fury?"

"You're not making any sense."

Crimson groaned in frustration. "Considering what you did in the past, I don't understand how you're so innocent."

"What did I do in the past? What do you know?" His voice was now oozing with malice.

"Don't know why you're so angry. I was referring to how you would slaughter grimm. That's what makes a huntsman, right?" He then walked away.

"Oh. Never mind then."

_"He's hiding something. Be careful around this boy."_

'Yeah. I know. He knows something about my past. Hopefully he doesn't know too much.'

"Come on, Kurai! Let's go!"

Kurai smiled. "Of course."

_TEAM ACKS DORM_

Crimson walked through the door of his team's dorm. "Resolve is the key, huh? Heh, such a stupid-"

He never finished his sentence, as he slipped, and skidded into a wall. He groaned as he looked at the wooden floor he had slipped on, and saw his reflection in it.

"Since when was the ground here this clean?"

"Ah, welcome back, Master Crimson." Syfen stepped into his field of view and bowed.

"Syfen? The hell did you do? And why are you in a suit?"

"I simply did as Master Adam ordered. He commanded me to clean the room. So I took up the role of the butler of this dorm, and cleaned until everything was spotless. I have prepared you some earl grey tea for your return."

"What the... Keep your tea! And stop acting like an idiot!"

Kurai burst into the room. "I forget to get Pyro so we could upgrade our weapons together, and- WHOA!" The youngest of team ACKS slipped as well, and crashed into Crimson.

"Ah, Bocchan has returned as well. Would you care for some tea?"

"What the...?"

"Don't ask," Crimson told him. "Just don't ask."

LATER

Crimson rolled his eyes. He, his team, and several other students were currently sitting through yet another lecture courtesy of Professor Oobleck. And too nobody's surprise, he spoke so fast that nobody could keep up.

"During the faunus rights revolution, many dangerous weapons were developed. These weapons not only took the lives of enemy warriors, but many innocent civilians were slain as well. Such a tragic event is-"

Crimson groaned. 'Seriously, why do I need to be here? I know all I need to know about the war! And those two idiots aren't helping at all!'

"Someone! Please slow him down!" Syfen pleaded.

"I already broke three pencils and a pen trying to take notes!" Kurai stated.

'This is my team?' Crimson thought. 'This is who I'm stuck with? I know they're strong, but why couldn't they have been born with a single brain cell?!'

"The faunus side's ultimate weapon weapon was planned to be the Atom Splitter: an all-powerful cannon that could destroy any sentient life-form at it's subatomic level. However, due to the danger of this weapon, the Atom Splitter was never finished, and only a mere prototype was completed. Complete destruction of atoms would not only destroy the life-form, but anything around it would be eliminated as well, as a large explosion would-"

'Why the hell would we even need to know this? So what if the weapon was dangerous? It's a tool of mass destruction, isn't it? Use it to your advantage!"

"In an attempt to gain an advantage, the humans created the railgun."

'Great, another useless weapon. What do ya got to tell us, speedy?'

"-increased their odds several times. The railgun is regarded as one of the most powerful electrical-type weapons in all of history."

'Wait, electrical?'

"In definition, the railgun is a super-electromagnetic gun with the ability to launched projectiles at an extremely high velocity. How it works is-"

Inspired by what the teacher was saying, Crimson took out his notebook and took notes at alarmingly quick speed. Adam, Kurai, and Syfen looked at him with raised brows. "Are you actually taking notes?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"What is the reason? Is a comet going to strike Remnant's surface soon, and kill all life?"

"What?"

"I mean is this a sign of the apocalypse?"

"No, so shut up and let me do this!" 'I'll need something new to give me an edge in the tournament...'

_ONE WEEK LATER_

"Whoa!" Kurai said as he and the rest of his team stepped off the Bullhead.

"This place is amazing!" Syfen said, admiring his surroundings.

"Indeed," Adam said. "This floating fortress will be the stage for battles seen across the entire world."

"Hmph." Crimson looked around, impressed by what he saw. "Yeah, it's cool and all, but I've got a question for you, dear 'leader.' Most teams had to take an airship. Why are you given your own private Bullhead?"

"I happen to be relatives with a very important person. As a result, I was given this as a gift."

"Oh? More people in your family? They didn't get burned to death in that purge?"

Adam frowned. He did not like how the faunus had phrased that. "Not all members of my family's bloodline lived in our village. Thus, they were not there when the...incident happened."

Crimson frowned. "Hmph. Any ideas who we will be fighting?"

"The fights have not been selected yet. Every battle is selected at random. Beacon's airships will arrive in half an hour. Until then, you have my permission to explore."

"Alright!" Syfen cheered. "I'm gonna see how many bacon-flavored foods they sell!" He ran off.

"I'll go check out the awesomeness of the sugary products here!" Kurai ran off as well.

Crimson said nothing and walked in the opposite direction.

Adam sighed. 'I truly hope then when an inevitable new battle begins, they will be prepared.'

"So your team ran off, Adam?"

Adam turned around to see who had spoken. He saw a girl with blue eyes. Her long hair was jet-black with icy-blue tips. Her dress consisted of a blue and yellow color pallet. Beneath it she wore black pants. Her armor consisted of a breastplate and arm guards. "Hello, Celest," Adam said.

"Adam. I heard that you and Syfen gained two more team members."

"Indeed. There is a dragon faunus named Crimson who is easily angered, and a young human named Kurai who has multiple personalities. Speaking of which, why are you here? You obviously did not arrive here on one of Beacon's airships."

Celest frowned. "I arrived here on my family's private jet. My parents don't trust public transportation enough to let me ride an airship. And they wouldn't let my team come along, simply because they aren't related to them."

"Your family has always been strict. Never caring for anyone of lower class."

Celest nodded. "But that is unimportant right now. You probably already know, but our enemies have infiltrated Beacon."

Adam frowned. "I am well aware of this. From what I've heard, multiple White Fang agents are disguised as students and teachers."

"It isn't just agents. The one in command is here as well."

"Is she? That could bring problems. If they attack, I have a feeling security won't be able to handle it."

"And it isn't just the White Fang. Shinigami is here as well."

"Shinigami? That psychotic murderer?"

"Yes. The supposedly uncatchable killer. He does not have one specific target. Humans, faunus, senior citizens, children... He won't hesitate to kill anyone he comes across. And I theorize that he came here to kill your uncle."

"He sounds like grimm. So hypothetically, not only do we have the White Fang to deal with, but Shinigami as well?" He sighed. "I see that the time of peace we have worked so hard to keep is about to end..."

_LATER AFTER JNPR'S FIGHT_

Crimson groaned as he watched team JNPR finish their battle. He was currently sitting with his team and team RWBY in the stands. "This battle would have been over much quicker if those idiots hadn't stopped to argue about attack names."

"Oh, come on Crimsy," Yang said. "It's not like this ain't normal for them."

"You mean this is orthodox?"

"Strangely, it is," Blake stated.

"It would be best if you embraced the insanity of Beacon Academy!" Syfen laughed.

Kurai was too nervous to speak, because he was sitting right next to Ruby.

"I don't think I could ever deal with this level of craziness..." Crimson said. "Whatever. Who's up next?"

"I believe that would be us."

"Oh... Well, who are we facing?"

"Team DWKC from Beacon."

"We're fighting someone from our own school?"

"As I stated already, matches are selected at random."

"Luck of the draw~" Syfen said.

"Syfen, I told you already. There is no such thing as luck. Everything is dictated by probability. We'll be leaving now."

As they walked away, only one thought came to Adam's mind.

'Although I really do wish it existed. 'Cause we really need it, now.'

_MEANWHILE_

Emerald's eye twitched as her scroll vibrated, signaling that she had received yet another message.

Mercury looked at her. "Is that psycho still texting you?"

The green haired girl nodded. "She's so relentless. I can't stand it."

Mercury frowned. "Well, what did she say?"

"She states, and I quote, 'Come on, come on! Send me a picture of him! I wanna see what he looks like! Please!'"

"And how many messages has she sent you?"

"Uh, about... 167 messages." As soon as she said that, the scroll vibrated again. "Make that 168... This one being a death threat if I don't send a picture..."

"Oh... You'd better send it."

She sighed. She quickly sent the photo the person on the other end asked for. Only three seconds later, a new message was sent to her scroll.

"What'd she say this time?"

"She says... 'OMG, he's so adorable. I can't wait to meet him. I assure you that I will get him to join us. Happy face, happy face, heart. Wish I could be there now.' Wow... She really is obsessive over that boy."

"Of course she is," Cinder told her. "Percival has always been obsessive over members of the Mirai clan. Now quiet down. The show is about to begin."

_WITH TEAM ACKS_

Crimson looked down at his weapon, frowning. "Why do we have to keep our blades blunt? It makes this way less fun."

"It is against the rules. The environment is supposed to be completely safe."

"Completely safe? We're beating the piss out of each other! This ain't safe at all! Not to mention if the power goes out, we'll all plummet hundreds of feet to the ground. Nothing about this is safe!"

"I disagree."

Crimson looked at the one who spoke. It was one of his opponents. He was heavily armored, and had a rhino horn jutting out from his head. 'A rhino faunus.'

"The power supply could last three years. And even if someone was planning to shut it all down, they can't. The security here is topnotch."

"He has a point," another boy, wearing a battle suit that covered him from head-to-toe, said. "By the way, I don't think we've met before. I'm Chris. This big guy here is Kolton. That guy over there is William..."

He pointed to a man with glasses. He smiled, but didn't say a word.

"And the guy next to him is Danny. He's the leader."

"Hey there! We're team DWKC! And we'll be the one's fighting you."

"I see..." Crimson looked up and saw the hologram that chose the landscape for their battle. The slot machine-like screen landed on a plateau. The landscape behind him changed.

"How about this," Adam said. "We will choose which opponent we fight. One-on-one."

"Sounds good," Chris said. "I guess I'll take on the short kid."

Kurai's eye twitched. "I'm not short..."

"So, toothpicks," Danny said, looking at Adam. "Who will you fight?"

"Toothpicks?" Adam questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Look at your swords. Those tiny things ain't got nothing on mine."

Adam sighed. "I suppose I will fight Kolton."

The faunus nodded. "Danny can choose next."

"Alright! I'll go with..." He pointed to Syfen. "...Who are you?"

"I am the great Sir Baconlot!" Syfen responded, proudly.

"What?"

Kurai laughed, Crimson face palmed, and Adam did nothing. "How do you deal with him?" Crimson asked.

"You get used to it," Adam responded.

"Really?"

"No."

"And that leaves Crimson and William," Kurai said. The next landscape was chosen, and a pond rose from the ground. "Let's start this, shall we?"

Danny smirked. "Let's give this crowd something to cheer for."

"Give 'em hell out there, Crimson!" Crimson heard Yang yell to him.

The dragon faunus blushed... And immediately punched himself in the face. Making is aura level drop down by two percent.

"Uh... Mr. Oobleck?" Professor Port asked. "What do you suppose Mr. Denki is doing?"

"Well," the teacher responded. "I have been a huntsman for many years, and during those years, I have learned many different methods of combat. That being said, I can only deduce that this... Is something I have never seen before."

"Why did you do that?" Adam asked.

"Uh... We uh... We have an unfair advantage! We're too awesome! I needed to use a handicap to make it even!"

"They are perfectly capable of fighting us without an advantage."

"Yeah, well... I'm just too badass for them..."

"Oh, so we need to injure ourselves to fight?" Kurai aimed his shotgun at his own head.

"N-no, no! Put the gun down! Put the gun down, you're scaring me!"

Kurai lowered his gun. "So we're not hurting ourselves?"

"No!"

"Um..." Oobleck began. "I am not sure what is happening... But begin the match!"

And with those words, the battle began. Each huntsman ran toward their selected opponent.

Crimson sent slashes at William with Red Death's daggers. Each swing was blocked by his shield: Crimson Scarab. The dragon faunus grinned. "I won't lose!" he proclaimed.

To Crimson's confusion, William grinned as well. The boy with glasses jumped back, and 30 caliber guns flipped out of the shield. Crimson frowned. William started to fire the rifles, and Crimson quickly dodged the bullets. He ran towards William, ready to slash him with his dulled blade.

However, before he could deliver the hit, William took out Walther: a pistol/knife combination. Using its' knife form, he hit Crimson in the face, knocking him back slightly. Crimson quickly combined his two daggers to form Red Death's sword form. He lunged at William, but he simply caught it between the blades of his shield.

William attempted to break the blade. Of course, this didn't work. Now it was Crimson's turn. "You can't break adament that easily!" He brought his right leg up and kicked Will in the side of his face, sending him flying in another direction.

Meanwhile, Danny was fighting with Syfen. Danny rushed towards him, and Syfen put his hands out in front of him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stop for a moment!"

Danny stopped right in front of him. "What is it?"

And then William slammed into him, knocking them both over. "And that's the punchline." William got up and rushed back over to his opponent.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the arena, Kolton hit Adam with his sword, Abomination, like a baseball bat. This sent the boy in green flying. He had also dropped one of his two swords. Using his remaining one, he stuck it into the ground, slowing himself until he finally stopped.

He landed near Crimson. "Oh, hey Adam," the faunus said. "Forgot rule #1, did ya?"

"Now is not the time, Crimson." He looked back and saw that Kolton had fired a rocket at him. Adam frowned and raised his blade. Crimson stepped in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Showing you how inferior you are to me. Just watch this." Crimson shot two electrical pulses through two fingers. It made contact with the rocket, making the projectile launch forward at lightning speed. Kolton's eyes widened as the projectile hit him in the gut. It exploded, knocking him back, but only dropping his aura level down to fifty percent. "Boom! That's my railgun! And that's why I took notes in class! Never taking notes again, though!" He then returned to his own battle with William.

Adam ran towards Kolton, attempting to hit him with his one sword. This didn't last long, as Kolton knocked his remaining sword out of his hand. The rhino faunus raised his own blade.

Adam sighed, knowing that he lost. He turned to his right, and saw something that filled him with rage.

_A FEW MOMENTS EARLIER_

Kurai grinned as he swung Pyro, but was blocked by Chris's sword, Aquifier. "You're pretty good!"

"So are you," Chris responded He pushed the blade forward, sending him back.

_"Would you like me to take over?"_

'Not yet. Let's see what this guy is capable of first.' He ran up, preparing to hit him. Before the sword made contact, however, Chris appeared to sink into the ground. "What the-?!"

_"Behind you!"_

Kurai was hit by a blue burst of energy. He fell down, and was kicked in the face, knocking him into the side of the plateau. He groaned as he got up. "How'd he do that?" He looked down to the ground. He saw a red vortex that lead to a blue vortex. "I see. He can make portals."

Beneath his battle exosuit, Chris smirked. "Correct," he responded. He aimed a fist at him, and shot a barrage of orange energy bullets from his miniature arm guns.

Kurai's quickly got up and dodged the lasers. 'Well... This could be a problem.'

_"I think I know how to beat him."_

'Really?'

_"Of course! I think I've already discovered a weaknesses in his battle suit. So let me take over."_

'Alright. Just don't kill him.'

"Fine." Black flames bursted from Kurai's body. He looked at Chris with his faded eyes. He stretched his arms out. "Ah. It always feels good to get out and stretch every once in a while." He grinned sadistically at Chris. "Why don't we get things started, metal man? The phoenix is looking for something to brawl with right now~"

Chris frowned. "Who are you? You obviously aren't Kurai.

"Ya got that right! I'm Azazel. The demon scapegoat. And I am the one who controls Kurai Mirai's semblance. Enough talk! Let's do this!" He shot a fireball at his feet, creating a smoke screen.

"And just where did he go?"

Another fireball made contact with his back. A small explosion that was set off knocked him forward. "Assassination is our specialty. I assume those dust crystals I just hit were the power source, correct?" The suit started to spark, and Azazel smirked. "I'll take that as a yes."

His feeling of triumph quickly turned to confusion as Chris turned to him. The chest piece of his exo-suit started to glow green. And right before Chris's aura level dropped down to the red zone, a large blast of energy shot from it, hitting Kurai. Kurai's aura level dropped down to nearly one percent, and he flew back, landing in the pond.

Adam saw this, and immediately became angry. Kolton swung Abomination down, and Adam caught it with his left hand. He then ripped it out of his hand, hit him with an uppercut stroke using abomination, followed by a spin to hit him, finally knocking his aura into the red zone. He breathed heavily, and threw Abomination down next to Kolton. He quickly got his own blades and ran over to help Crimson, as Syfen dove into the pond to rescue Kurai.

_MEANWHILE_

_Darkness. It was the only thing Kurai could see. Why was he so cold? He hated the cold. He sneezed. "Azazel... What happened? Where are we?"_

_He received no response._

_He frowned. "Azazel, I know you can hear me. Answer me."_

_"Kurai?" someone responded. It wasn't Azazel._

_"Z-Zero?" The darkness seemed to fade away. In front of him stood a boy who looked to be eight years of age. A hood covered the top of his head. Strands of his icy hair covered a good portion of his forehead. His eyes were the same color. He stared at Kurai coldly._

_"Who else? Get up already. Blade will be pissed if you're late for training."_

_Kurai's eyes widened. "Oh, god no! Keep him away from me please!"_

_"Calm down. You ain't late yet. Unless of course you don't get off your ass and get goin."_

_Kurai blinked. He got up and followed the icy haired boy. 'I'm still being trained by Blade? Last thing I remember is blacking out after Azazel got us blasted into water... Then... Is this a dream? Why would Zero be in my dream? I haven't seen him years... My first friend..."_

"Kurai!" _He heard another voice call out to him. Syfen. His vision started to blur, and faded to darkness once more._

The darkness cleared, and he saw Syfen looking down on him. He coughed, and water was released from his lungs. He glanced around. "What happened? Did we win?"

Syfen laughed awkwardly. "We didn't win... But our team did!"

"Huh?"

"Well, I was doing well in my fight, when suddenly boom happened! Danny's weapon was a bow and arrow, my weapon was a bow and arrow, and we shot at the same time, and kaboom! Our projectiles met in the middle and exploded! A smoke screen was made, and he appeared in front of me, and I turned my weapon into a sword, and swung at him. The blade appeared to pass dight through him though... He has intangibility as his semblance, which makes him a ghost!"

"Uh... You mean anything can pass through him, right?"

"Yeah! Phantom Man! He shot an arrow at me, and it electrocuted. Those things were filled with dust. My aura was brought down to the red zone. I was ready to get off the stage, and I saw you fly by. I dove into into the pond, receiving a perfect ten for my jump, to get you, since you were drowning. I brought you back up, and resurrected you."

"Resurrected means I died. You mean revived, right?"

"Eh. Tomato potato. Anyways, I got you out of there and got the water out of your lungs. Then Adam and Crimson fought the remaining competitors. It was awesome! Crimson was like SLASH SLASH SLASH! And Adam was like BANG BANG BANG! It was more awesome than bacon cake!"

"Uh huh. Ok. But you got taken out too, right? That means that Crimson will take your spot with Adam in the next round, right?"

"Oh yeah. Eh. I don't mind. But Crimson... I'm not so sure about..."

They looked over at Crimson and Adam. The former was currently speaking. "Lets get one thing straight, Blu. We aren't friends. Being on this team doesn't mean I have to be all buddy-buddy with you morons. I will never rely on your help. You hear me?"

Adam simply nodded in response.

"Who does he think he's fooling? Himself? He obviously cares for others."

"Hee hee. No kidding."

_MEANWHILE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF REMNANT_

A man skipped along the sidewalk, earning strange looks from everyone he passed. He laughed as he counted his money. "Ten, twenty, thirty thousand!" He laughed like a child. "I'll add that to my stash later~! Ah, the requests around here are such a joke. It's like they're just giving away cash~!"

As he passed by an alleyway, the man heard someone call out to him. "Kage Honō?"

He stopped. He looked back at who had spoken. It was a man standing in the entrance to the alley. Most of him was hidden by the shadows, but Kage could clearly see a grimm mask on his face. Kage smirked and took a bow. "The one and only~! Sup?"

"Get over here. I don't want anyone seeing us."

Kage stepped into the shadows. "So, you got a request? Or are you trying to kill me?"

"I am not stupid enough to attempt to murder you, shadow flame assassin. You are a master at killing. The White Fang has a proposition for you. If you accept, we can quadruple your current amount of lien."

He grinned. "I'm listening. Who do I have to kill?"

"Not kill. Capture. We need you to retrieve someone who is vital to our plans."

"No killing? Count me out. Missions like that are just no fun."

"Well, there will be no killing the main target. But we can provide you with several secondary targets as well. Those you can kill."

"Now you're speaking my language. Who is the main one?"

"Someone you know." He handed him a picture.

Kage looked at it. "Someone I know? I ain't ever seen this boy."

"Oh? You truly are a man of great cruelty if you don't recognize your own son."

_BACK AT THE TOURNAMENT_

Crimson and Adam stared as Winter Schnee walked out of her ship. They looked over at Weiss, who they had followed. "Any idea who that is?" the dragon faunus asked Adam.

"Winter!" Weiss shouted.

"Ah, I see," Adam said. "Winter Schnee. Weiss's elder sister."

"A Schnee?" He frowned. "Oh great. A member of the family who hate faunus the most."

"Perhaps. But Weiss appears to be tolerant towards your kind. Perhaps something happened to change her view. Her sister may be the same."

"I highly doubt that."

They looked back at the two siblings and Ruby. "I'm more than familiar with how this kingdom handles its bureaucracy," the older of the two siblings said. "That is not why I am here."

"Right," Weiss responded. "Sorry."

"Nor did I come to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it would appear I have no choice in the matter."

"But... We won!"

"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed."

"Oh, a perfectionist," Crimson said. "Just like you, huh, Adam?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Maybe you should ask her out?"

"...Crimson?"

"Yes, Adam?"

"Never make a comment like that again, or there will be consequences."

"Alright, alright! Weiss is definitely the better match for you anyways..."

And for that he was smacked on the head. Just at the same time as the same thing happened to Weiss.

"Hey! There was no reason for that!"

"I already told you that there would be consequences." They listened to Weiss, Winter, and Ruby again.

"I see..." Winter said as she looked at Ruby. "So this is the leader you wrote of. How appropriately... Underwhelming."

"Uh... Thank you."

"Greetings, Ruby Rose. I wish to thank you for taking an interest in my sister."

"Oh, uh... Yes, of course! The honor is in my... Court!" The girl in red tried to act formal for her, but failed horribly at it. And it was downright adorable.

"KAWAII!" Kurai shrieked, swooning over the girl.

Everyone looked at the boy who had randomly appeared behind his leader and his partner. "Where did you even come from?!" Crimson asked, startled by the former assassin's appearance. "You snuck up on us like a... Like a..."

"Like a ninja?" Adam asked.

"Adam!" Crimson and Kurai said in complete synchronization. "Don't you ever say that word again!"

"Never say ninja? Why?"

"EVER!"

Winter frowned. "Are these three your friends as well?"

Weiss nodded. "Yes. These three are part of Beacon's newest team, ACKS. The tall one in green is Adam Blu."

Without any emotion in his tone, Adam spoke. "Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Schnee."

"To you as well. Professor Ozpin seems to have a lot of pride for you."

"Yes. My uncle cares very deeply for his few remaining family members, and treasures them."

Crimson's eyes widened. "Wait a second, you're Ozpin's nephew?!"

Adam blinked. "Of course. I thought that would be obvious."

"What the... No it wasn't! That isn't something you can just subtly hint at! You're the headmaster's nephew for dust's sake!"

"Who I am and who I'm related to does not matter."

"But... But... Ah, never mind. Anyways, Schnee, I'm Crimson Denki. Don't you dare forget it, 'cause I'm the strongest warrior in Beacon!"

Winter looked at her younger sibling. "I'm quite surprised that you are friends with a brat so arrogant."

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME!? GET OVER HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

Several of the Atlesian Knights looked at the faunus, ready to attack. "Stand down," Winter told them.

"Calm down, Crimson," Adam told his teammate.

"Right..." Weiss said. "And the shortest one is Kurai Mirai."

"Kurai," Winter said to the ex-assassin.

"Winter-san," he responded.

"You two know each other?"

"Classified."

"Never seen her before in my life."

A long silence followed afterwards. "Right," Winter spoke, breaking the silence. She turned back to her sister. "I have business to attend to with the general and the headmaster. However, seeing as I have arrived early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Really?" Weiss asked, enthusiastically.

"Yes. I wish to inspect them and make sure they are up to my personal standards."

The two started walking with the Atlesian Knights following behind. "Of course. Just so you're aware, the bunkbeds only look unstable."

"Bunk...beds?"

Ruby called out to them. "I'll catch up with... I mean... I will... Reconvene with you both... At a later... Juncture! At a juncture. Yeah..." She looked to her left, and saw Kurai with his face as red as a beet. "Something wrong?"

"No, no! I'm fine. Darn it, I don't see how it's physically possible to be that cute..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing! Nothing!"

Crimson sighed. "He's letting his affection show far too easily. She's gonna pick up on the accidental hints he's giving her at some point." He smirked and turned to Adam. "Hey, Adam. That thing Weiss showed when she was around Winter? Yeah. That's called emotion. It's something you need more of."

The response Crimson was given was another smack. "We're leaving, Crimson," the leader told him.

"Yeah. Leave the those two together. Hey Kurai! Just ask her, already!" The former assassin's teammates left.

"A-ask her?" Kurai asked.

_"I think he means ask her out."_

'I know what he means!'

"Kurai?" Ruby asked. "Crimson said 'ask her, already.' What do you want to ask me?"

"Uh..." 'Ok, you can do this. Just calm down.' "Um... Ruby-chan?" Can I ask you somewhere else? I'd like to ask in a place with less people around."

"Sure." The two walked off. Unbeknownst to either of them, someone was watching them from a distance. A certain blonde brawler to be exact. 'Where is he going with her?' Yang asked, eyes narrowing on the two. Her eyes widened. "He's finally gonna ask her out, isn't he?"

It wasn't hard for Yang to realize that Kurai had feelings for her sister. In fact, just about everyone in the school knew about it, with the exception of Ruby. Even Jaune knew about. Freaking Jaune, who couldn't pick up on Pyrhha's hints to save his life, had figured it out!

Yang frowned. 'I'd better follow them. Make sure he doesn't try anything strange...'

It didn't take long to find a more private place. Well, private from who they could see, of course. The only other person who could see them was Yang.

"So, what did you wanna ask?" Ruby asked.

Kurai was terrified. 'Oh dust, what do I do!? Should I just make it the first thing I ask? Should I start with a conversation. I don't know the first thing about asking a girl out!'

_"Mirai. Calm down."_

'But what if she says no?!'

_"Look. Whatever happens, me and your other personality fragments are with you. So stop being a pussy."_

'Woah, you're assertive.'

Ruby had no idea what was wrong with him. Out of nowhere Kurai had started sweating like crazy. "Are you ok? You look like you're about to melt..."

"Oh, me? I'm perfectly fine. Um... Ruby-chan. How long has it been since we first met?"

"Um... A few weeks. Don't remember how many..."

"Well... Um, the first time I saw you, I thought I was seeing a goddess. I didn't think someone like you would even want to talk to someone like me. I mean, look at me! I'm pathetic. My hair is a mess, I'm so skinny that I look like who hasn't eaten in over a week, and beneath this coat, I'm covered in scars. I look awful."

"No you're not! You don't look awful at all. Far from it, in fact."

Kurai blushed. "T-t-thank you... You're always so kind. And it's for reasons like that I think I've fallen head over heels for the red reaper of justice..."

"Red reaper?" She blushed. 'Does he mean me? Oh my gosh, is he asking me to go on a date with him?!' Her blush deepened.

"What I'm trying to say is... Ruby Rose? Will you go out with-?"

He was interrupted by the sounds of metal clanging against metal. The sound of two weapons colliding with each other.

"What was that?" Kurai asked.

"Oh, uh, for now, ignore that," Ruby said. "Please continue with what you were going to ask."

"I-"

"Oh, so this is where you two were." Yang said, finally walking over to them.

"Oh, uh, hey Yang. Could you please leave for a minute? I need to say something."

"Oh, sorry. But from what I heard a fight has broken out, and it is awesome. Go on, Ruby. I need to talk to Kurai. I've also heard that there are some really awesome weapons being used."

"Really?" Ruby looked at Kurai and whispered in his ear. "Sorry. Yang won't allow it right now, but you can ask me that later. By the way, my answer would have been yes."

Kurai's eyes widened.

The girl smiled and made an adorable face that Kurai would be gushing over under normal circumstances. "Just ask me anytime. Anytime at all."

She then ran off. "W-wait!" Kurai was about to run after her, but was stopped by Yang.

"Not so fast, lover boy. I need to have a few words with you."

Kurai looked at her. "W-what is it?"

"I know what you were going to ask her."

Kurai instantly became horrified. "Yang-san, I know what you're thinking. But please don't kill me. I-"

"Save it. Listen to me. I know all about your crush on my little sister. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most of the school knows it. But you know who doesn't know about it yet? Ruby. And do you know why?"

Kurai stayed silent, fearing that he might make her angry.

"It's because she is blinded by her own affection for you."

Kurai's fear turned to shock. "What?"

She sighed. "Although she doesn't make it as obvious, the feeling you have for her is mutual. I still remember the day I realized it."

_FLASHBACK_

"Man!" Yang said as she fell onto her bed. "Those new guys sure can put up a fight!"

"Agreed," Weiss said.

"Hey, uh... Blake?" Ruby said, looking at the faunus. "What did you and Kurai talk about?"

"Hmm?" Blake looked up from the book she was reading.

"I asked what you talked to Kurai about after your fight with him."

"Nothing much. I just asked where he learned to fight."

"Oh, uh... Alright.,

"Why are you so concerned?" Weiss asked. "Are you jealous or something?"

"J-jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

"You know, Ruby," Blake chimed in. "That boy has the biggest crush on you."

"W-what!? No, don't make jokes like that. I mean, why would he have a crush on me? What do I have that he'd be interested in?"

Yang raised a brow. "Ruby... Do you like him back?"

"What? What would make you think that?"

"Well, your face is as red as your cape to start."

"...Ok. Maybe a little. He's cute, nice, and has quirks that make him... Unique. His weapon is cool too. But... He doesn't feel the same way..."

Yang sighed. "Don't be so hard on yourself. Theres plenty of stuff he has to like about you. And we aren't making up the fact that he has a crush on you."

"Oh stop. Don't tease me like that."

_END OF FLASHBACK_

Kurai's blush deepened. "Ruby... Likes me back?"

"Yes. And let me tell you something else."

She pinned the boy against the wall, and glared at him menacingly.

"Ruby is my pride, and I love her dearly. If you want to be with my sister, you'd better get your ass straight, boy. You'd better make her smile and laugh everyday. Don't you dare make her cry or regret a second being with you. If you so much as hurt a single strand of hair on her head, I swear to the evil god that created you, I will chase you down to the farthest ends of the world and I will fucking end you. I expect you to give my sister your everything, and nothing less. Do you hear me?"

Kurai nodded. "I understand."

Yang smiled and dropped him. "You really do like her. Just remember what I told you. And ask her in some other place. Like the school or something. I'd rather not have my sister be asked out in a place like this. An alleyway probably isn't the best choice.

"Sorry. Couldn't think of anywhere else." Kurai ran to the where the battle was taking place. Yang simply walked in another direction.

_MEANWHILE (The evil god Yang was referring to is myself, by the way)_

Crimson was in shock. He had just arrived at the ongoing battle between Qrow and Winter, and couldn't believe how quick the two were. "How...? How are they this strong?"

"Kick her butt, Uncle Qrow!" he heard Ruby shout.

'That monster is her relative?!' he thought.

"What's going on, here?" Kurai asked.

Ruby grinned at him. "Uncle Qrow is here!"

The former assassin blinked. "Qrow?" He looked at the battle. "Oh my Dust! That is epic!"

"Right?! I feel like I'm watching a real life shōnen anime!"

"Maybe our whole lives are an anime! That would be cool!"

"Oh please," Crimson sighed. "Who the hell would wanna watch that anime?"

"Schnee!" a new voice called out.

Winter stopped. She was about to deliver the finishing blow to her opponent before Ironwood had spoke.

"Darn it!" Kurai said. "Don't ruin this epic fight, old man!"

"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter said.

"What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"He started the altercations, sir!"

"Untrue," Qrow responded. "She attacked first."

"Is this true?" the general asked.

Winter said nothing.

He frowned. "And Qrow. Why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Now, now, everyone," Ozpin said, walking up to the group alongside Glynda and Adam. "There is Sanction fight taking place just around the corner that I assure you has better seats. And popcorn."

"Break it up, everyone!" Glynda said. "We will take care of this mess."

"Hi, Aunt Glynda!" She looked to her left, and saw Syfen waving to her.

Crimson's jaw dropped. "Ozpin's assistant is Syfen's aunt!?"

Glynda sighed. "Syfen. I have told you before. Refer to me as professor."

"Whatever you say, Aunt Glynda!"

Her eye twitched, but she said nothing. She knew trying to reason with her nephew was an impossible task.

Crimson groaned. "So let me get this straight. Adam is the nephew of the headmaster, and Syfen is the nephew of his assistant? Kurai, please don't tell me that general guy is your father!" He looked at his partner, but received no response. "Kurai?"

During his training with Blade, Kurai had learned many techniques. One such technique gave him the ability to sense the level of bloodlust of the creature around him. It allowed him to know who was most likely to attack with the intent to kill.

As soon as Ozpin had come, a high level of bloodlust rose immediately from someone in the crowd. He saw that it was emanating from Ross Vermomming. The leader of Team RUST.

Kurai was shocked. 'That's impossible... No human or faunus can create that level of bloodlust... Only the creatures of Grimm go to that extent.'

As soon as the level of bloodlust appeared, it dropped back down to zero. 'Was I just imagining it? I must have. It is not physically possible for a human to do that...'

"Hey, Kurai!" Crimson yelled at him. "Wake up!"

The ex-assassin blinked. "Oh. Sorry about that. I was just distracted."

The faunus frowned. "Well snap out of it. You get distracted far too easily."

"Uncle Qrow!" Ruby squealed as she jumped over to her uncle and held onto his arm. "Its so good to see you! Did you miss me!?"

Qrow smirked and ruffled her hair. "Nope."

"So this is your uncle, huh?" Kurai said, walking over to them.

"Yup!" Ruby said with a grin. "Kurai, this is Uncle Qrow. Uncle Qrow, this is Kurai Mirai."

"Nice to meet you!" Kurai said, grinning at the older man. "Ruby-chan seems very fond of you. Must be nice having a male role-model you can look up to. All I had during my childhood was my jerk of a father and... Master..." Kurai shuddered at the memory. "Yeah... I don't like talking about it... Anyways, has anyone ever told you that you sound like Edward Elric?"

Qrow stared at the boy. "Right..."

"Qrow," Ozpin said as Ruby finally fell off his arm. "A word please."

He looked back at his niece. "I think I'm in trouble."

She smiled. "Well, you did kinda tear up the courtyard."

"Yeah. Guess I did. See ya later." He walked in the direction of Ozpin.

"And suddenly your reckless behavior makes sense," Weiss said. "It must be genetic."

"You're just mad 'cause he kicked butt."

"That was a draw at best."

_LATER_

"What were you thinking!?" Winter yelled when Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow, and Adam all walked into the room she and Ironwood were in.

"If you were one of my men, I'd have you shot," Ironwood told him.

"If I was one of your men, I'd shoot myself," Qrow said. "Now before you all start bitching at me, there's something I need to discuss with you, Ozpin."

"What is it that you want to talk about?" Ozpin asked.

"I think you know. Why is it that you allowed a member of the Honō clan into your school?"

"Oh? So you know then."

"Once you face one of them, you know how to spot any others."

"If you are referring to Kurai, he is not like his ancestors," Winter stated. "He does not enjoy killing."

"And just how would you know about that boy, Ice Queen?"

"He did a few jobs for my father too... Eliminate certain White Fang radicals. Weiss is not yet aware of this, however."

"So he killed a few people for your father. Oh yeah. That's reassuring."

"However, he never showed enjoyment for the deaths he caused. At least not when his main personality was in control."

"Excuse me? Main personality?"

"Mr. Mirai has multiple personalities," Glynda told him. "A child's mind could not handle that level of emotional trauma, and ended up splitting into fragments. Each fragment can take over if certain requirements are met."

"Oh great! So now his mind is in pieces as well!"

"I would like to point out that Uncle specifically assigned me to my team so I could watch over him," Adam told him. "I can deal with him if he goes out of control."

"Don't be so sure. Those guys are monsters."

"I seem to recall that you fought one of them, yourself," Ozpin said. "And defeated him."

"Defeated? No. There was no defeating involved. To avoid going to prison, Promethius turned himself into ashes. And he's what? This boy's pops?"

"Grandfather, actually. And Kurai truly wishes to be hunter. He wants a life where he no longer has to kill."

"Tch." Qrow took out his flask and began to drink from it.

"I suppose it's also worth noting that Kurai Mirai is romantically attracted to your niece."

Qrow spit out his whiskey. "HE WHAT!?"

"I also feel like I should add that Ms. Rose reciprocates those feelings."

"..."

"Qrow?"

"So let me get this straight. A demon has feelings for my niece, and she likes him back?"

"That essentially sums it up."

"Tell me. Did he trick her into falling for him, or did Ruby develop those feelings naturally?"

"Naturally."

"...Well then. I'll need to have a talk with a certain assassin after the tournament. Maybe punch him the jugular a couple times. Make sure he's worthy of being her boyfriend."

"You may do as you please. Just don't kill him."

"I won't. I'm not like the Honō clan. Or certain other bastards." Qrow glared at the general.

Adam sighed. "Back to the matter at hand, why are you here Qrow?"

"You've been out of contact for weeks," the general added. "You can't just go dark like that in the field."

"I'm not one of your dogs, Jimmy."

"General," Winter corrected.

"Don't care. I was told to get intel on our enemies. And both of them are here."

"We know," Ironwood responded.

"Oh? You know? Well, thank god I'm out there risking my ass to keep you all informed."

"Qrow-"

"Communication is a two way street, pal." He pulled out his scroll. "You see this? That's called the send button."

"They had reason to assume you've been compromised," Winter told him.

"And I have reason to believe that you don't gotta be here. Seriously. Who invited her?"

"...Schnee, we will discuss this incident back on my ship," Ironwood told her.

"But sir-!"

"Winter. Leave."

Winter saluted him. "Yes sir..." She left the room.

Qrow took another swig from his flask. "Despite what the world the world thinks, we're not just trachers or generals or headmasters or students. Us and the leaders of the other two academies are the ones keeping the world safe from the evils no one knows about. It's why we only meet behind closed doors. It's why we work in the shadows. So you tell me James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet, or did you simply not give a damn?"

Ironwood frowned. "Discreet wasn't working," he said as he placed his own scroll down on the table. A hologram appeared in the center of the room. It displayed the entirety of Vale, Beacon, the Vytal tournament arena, and his army. "I am here because this is what was necessary."

"Cut the bullshit. You're only here because Ozpin wanted you here. He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us."

"And I am grateful."

"Oh, are you? Well, you've got a real funny way of showing it."

"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them. Someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe. And our enemies will feel our strength."

Qrow laughed. "You honestly think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you: they are fear."

"And fear will bring the grimm," Ozpin responded.

"It ain't just fear that will bring them here. Shinigami is out there too, and he probably has control of them. His army is even larger than yours, James. There's a reason we've called him the god of death. He is human, yet at the same time he is grimm. Quite a deadly combination."

"I am aware of this, Qrow. And I am aware that he is most likely the reason for the... Disappearance of my students."

"Disappearance? Is that what you've been telling the others? That they're only MIA? Those students that went 'missing' have been found. But they've been found dead. So mutilated that they don't even look human anymore. He cut through them like they didn't even possess aura at all. But that's just the true power of dark matter, for ya. He could quite literally be anyone. He could be Jimmy. He could be you. He could even be your precious little nephew."

"Enough. We can discuss the human grimm later. A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There has been a change in the wind. An energy in the air. A question in the back of everyone's minds."

"If this is the size of our defenses, what exactly is it we're expecting to fight?" Adam finished for his uncle.

Everyone glared at Ironwood. He simply sighed, and took his scroll off the table. With that, the hologram disappeared. "So then. What would you suggest we do?"

"I suggest we find our guardians." He glanced out the window. "Before they find a warrior even stronger."

_ELSEWHERE_

"And now, for the final match of the 2v2 team rounds!" Doctor Oobleck announced as the crowd cheered.

"This battle will be between team ACKS and team CRME," Professor Port added. "Representing team ACKS are Adam I. Blu, and Crimson Denki. As for team CRME, Cinder Fall and Rolland Balam."

"From what I've heard, Crimson holds some sort of grudge against Rolland."

"Ah, yes. Team ACKS lost in a sparring match against team CRME. Mr. Denki is very prideful, and doesn't take well to losing."

"AND DRAGON BOY GOT HIS ASS KICKED!" someone else, who had just entered the announcer room, screamed.

"Uh... Professor Deimos-"

"THAT'S LORD CAPTAIN COMMANDER POSEIDON TRIDENT KING LIEUTENANT PROFESSOR DEIMOS TO YOU!"

"...Can we just call you Professor Deimos, for short?"

"LORD CAPTAIN COMMANDER POSEIDON TRIDENT KING LIEUTENANT PROFESSOR DEIMOS ALLOWS THIS!"

"Professor Deimos, first of all, you are not allowed to be here."

"I GO WHERE I WANT!"

"...Second of all, you cannot curse here. This is meant to be family friendly."

"...It depends on your family."

"Just leave, already."

"Fine. Until we meet again, you bastards!"

"What did I just say-!?" Deimos disappeared from the two teachers' vision. "Uh... Where'd he go?"

On the tournament stage, Crimson glared at Balam. 'Damn those two... What are they planning? She never told me about this...'

Balam frowned. "Stop looking at me like that. Such young eyes filled with determination... It makes me sick."

"This won't be like the last time. You will fall by my hands."

"We'll see about that," Cinder responded with a smirk.

Adam frowned at her. The terrains were chosen. They were a forest, a desert, a glacier, and a volcano.

"And let the match... Begin!"

Crimson breathed heavily. Electricity gathered around him rapidly. His hair stuck up and his body had a strange glow. "Don't underestimate me, bastard!"

Rolland rolled his eyes. He grunted and rushed towards his opponent.

Once he got close, Crimson grabbed his arm and threw him into the air. Crimson then jumped up and kicked him towards the forest portion. Like a flash of lightning, the faunus disappeared. He reappeared once again, standing side-ways on the trunk of a tree. As soon as Balam was in sight, he was punched into the ground towards the desert portion. Balam finally stopped when he landed head first in a cactus.

"Whoa..." Kurai said, trailing off.

"Has your teammate always been this fast?" Pyrrah asked.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say he's almost as fast as Ruby..." Blake said.

"With that they might be able to win easily..."

"I wouldn't say that..." Weiss responded.

"Huh? Why?" Yang asked.

"Look at their aura levels."

Everyone looked at the screen displaying everybody's aura. Balam's was brought down by six percent with each hit. Crimson's level however... "Why is his level constantly going down?" Syfen asked.

"I suppose I have a theory," Ren said. "I'm sure you all know what Nora's semblance is, right?"

"Where she channels electricity into her muscles?"

"Yeah. Sort of like that, but for speed. However, his body is not accustomed to that, so he is constantly injured by it. He's putting a very large strain on his body, making his aura level constantly lower."

"Why would he do something like that?" Ruby asked. "That seems a little risky, doesn't it?"

"Crimson isn't focused on his own well-being at the moment," Blake said. "All that he's focused on is defeating Rolland." 'He's always been reckless like that...'

Back on the battlefield, Crimson continued his assault on Balam with a barrage of punches. He breathed heavily as he stopped. To his right, he could see Adam clashing with Cinder, who had conjured two swords. The two seemed even, but Crimson could tell that Adam was slightly ahead, although Crimson couldn't tell if it was due to skill, or Cinder just not caring whether this battle is won or lost. "What's wrong, lamb? Getting tired? This is why you'll never defeat me."

"Shut up..."

"I'm getting bored. I might have to get serious soon. Don't worry. I will not kill you. Your teammates, however... They won't be so lucky."

Crimson immediately jabbed him in the gut sending him backwards, but Balam quickly caught his balance. "I told you to shut up!"

Balam sighed. "Fine then. Just know that you had a chance to give up before this happened." He took out his explosive, blade whip. He threw several of the bombs at his opponent, and they exploded.

Crimson emerged from the smoke with electricity flowing through his hands, and hit Balam in the abdomen with it. The two were instantly sent in different directions. The electricity surrounding the faunus' body disappeared, and he immediately dropped to his knees, needing to catch his breath.

The teen looked up and saw his foe take out more explosives. His eyes widened as he realized he was not aiming at him when they were launched. They were aimed at Adam.

Crimson sprinted over and took the hit. The explosions that followed caused his aura to go down to past the red zone. He felt his aura shatter around him. He no longer had his aura. It would regenerate soon enough, but right now he was far too vulnerable. Not only that, but everywhere he looked was covered in smoke. With that, Balam could attack and nobody would know.

And as if to prove this point, Balam appeared in front of him. Rolland kicked him in the side of the head, instantly knocking him out of the ring. Right before Crimson went unconscious, he saw someone. A woman. She was smiling at him, but tears were falling from her eyes. She looked familiar, but Crimson didn't remember ever meeting her. He heard her say, "I'm sorry," right before everything went black.

Adam noticed this and was filled with anger. Cinder smirked and decided that she no longer needed to fight. She allowed the boy to knock her aura into the red zone. Adam then rushed toward Balam. He kneed Rolland in the gut, followed by bringing both his fists down on his opponent's back. He knocked him to the ground, with his aura in the red zone.

"And with that, team ACKS is declared the victors!" Port said.

"Team CRME put up a great fight, but in the end, Adam found a way to defeat them," Oobleck stated.

Despite the cheering, Adam remained stoic. The battle was over. That was all that mattered.

"I... Won't let you mock me!"

Adam's eyes widened and a wave of pain washed over him. The cheering immediately ceased and was replaced with a symphony of gasps. Balam had slashed him across the chest. As blood poured out from the wound, Adam fell to the ground.

Cinder frowned. She did not authorize this. This was not in the plan. Rolland Balam had directly defied orders.

"Not good..." Kurai said.

He looked at Syfen. Never had he seen the boy mad. However, the sight of his best friend being attacked like that made his blood boil. "Leave him alone... STAY AWAY!"

Suddenly the gravity in the area changed. It wasn't enough to kill anyone, but it forced the weaker spectators to the ground. Not only that, but the Atlesian Knights that were called upon to stop him were glitching out because of it.

"What's wrong?!" Balam screamed as he got up. "Fight back!" He drove his foot into Adam's back, causing him to hiss in pain. Balam cackled. "I wouldn't die so easily. I am stronger than you. And I will prove it to you! I will-!"

Rolland stopped talking as someone chopped him on the neck, causing him to fall unconscious. "You will be silent."

Adam looked up and saw that the one who saved him was his uncle. Headmaster Ozpin.

"I cannot let you harm my students. Someone call the paramedics for Adam. As for you..." He looked back to Balam, just in time to see his body disappear from his line of sight just as two blurs, one pink and one blue, dashed out of the way.

Ozpin looked where the blurs stopped, and saw who the two were. One was a girl with pink, brown, and white hair. Her eyes were two different colors: pale pink and brown. In her hand was an umbrella. Neopolitan.

"Her?" Yang asked. "What's she doing here?"

"It can't be..." Kurai said as he stood up.

Ruby glanced at Kurai, and saw that the boy was shocked. Horrified even. "K-Kurai?"

"No..." he said. "It can't be him... Why is he here?!

He recognized the other figure. He wore a light blue cloak, with a hood that slightly hid his icy blue hair. Beneath it he wore a gray shirt, dark blue pants, and white shoes. His left eye was scarred in the same place as Weiss. Kurai recognized him as Zero. His friend from when he was training with Blade. Over his shoulder, he held the unconscious body of Balam.

Zero looked to the crowd and saw his own training partner. He frowned. 'So he really is still alive...' He looked back at Ozpin. "This boy is property of the White Fang. His superiors are upset with him at the moment. We'll be taking him back now."

"No. That boy has caused too much havoc. We cannot allow him to leave."

"Orders are orders. They decide his fate. Not you. So back off."

Adam slowly got up. Using his remaining strength, he threw one of his two swords at the enemies. Right before it him them, they seemed to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Adam then fell to the ground, unable to withstand the pain any longer. With the two gone, the gravity returned to normal.

Ozpin frowned. "Team CRME is disqualified. However, your team is in no shape to fight any longer, Adam. Therefore, your team will not be continuing either.

Adam sighed. "I'm fine with that."

Meanwhile, Cinder walked out of the arena. She planned to leave for now. However...

"Ms. Fall?" Cinder turned around and saw Ozpin walking towards her, with Mercury and Emerald following close behind. "I would like to ask you and your team a few questions about your... associate."

Cinder sighed. This was gonna be a long day.

_LATER_

"Rolland Balam? That's seriously the best name you could come up with, Nikuto?"

The former member of Team CRME frowned at the man teasing him. After Neo and Zero had brought him back to the White Fang's headquarters, 'Balam', or Nikuto Gareth as he was actually known as, was thrown in a cell and was chained to the wall. And to add to his suffering, one of the people he was supposed to call his comrades had shown to tease him: Cthulhu Lancelot.

Cthulhu was a tall man with ghostly pale skin. His one visible eye was as red as blood. His other eye was hidden by his green hair. He wore a brown, sleeveless jacket, a blue shirt with red sleeves, black pants, and golden, metal boots. On his head was a black, pilgrim-like top hat.

"Silence. As if you could do any better."

"Actually I could. And I could do so by thinking of one for more than five seconds."

"Tch. Why are you even here? You didn't come to torture me, did you?"

"Oh, Nikuto-chan, you know that's not my style~"

Nikuto growled. He hated it when the older of the two called him that.

"Beating a man while he's down is just no fun. But you know what else isn't fun? Fighting someone far weaker than you. That's why I convinced the leader to let you join my group. To help you grow stronger. I wanted to make you an opponent worthy of being defeated. But, it would appear I got my hopes up. No matter what happens, you'll never grow strong enough to beat me, Nikuto-chan~"

"Are you calling me weak, you bastard?!"

The doors to the room opened, and three people walked into the White Fang's prison. One was Adam Taurus, and the other two were Zero and Neo. "Well, if it ain't our dear old 'king.' How are you doing, 'Arthur?'"

"Silence, Lancelot. Nikuto Gareth. Or should I say Rolland Balam? Your actions will not be forgiven. By all accounts, you should be executed at this moment for going against orders. However, Cinder has decided that it would be best if you lived. That being said, that does not mean you will not be punished. You will be demoted back down to the level of a private. Your position as a knight of the round will be taken away as well."

"Tch. That doesn't matter. As long as I get my revenge."

"No. You will be kept in your cell for a few months. You will not be the one to kill them."

"Will your brother die as well?" Cthulhu asked.

"Crimson? He's been too much of a danger to us for too long. He can die for all I care."

"You don't care for your own brother?" Zero asked.

"His hatred for humans is all just an act. He does it all to convince himself that he's worthy to be in the White Fang. In reality, he actually cares for the human race. He will never be able to kill another, be they human or faunus. And for that, I do not consider him family. We are simply strangers who share the same blood."

_MEANWHILE_

"So, you were not aware of Rolland Balam's association with the White Fang?"

"I swear on my life, headmaster, none of us knew that Rolland was part of such a corrupt organization."

Mercury rolled his eyes. After the incident with Balam, the remainder of team CRME had been brought up to Ozpin's office for questioning. Now they were stuck in a room with the headmaster and his assistant. Mercury would have been fine with that, had it not been so boring. "Old man, could ya speed this up? I feel like I'll die of old age if we don't leave soon."

As a response, Emerald kicked him in the shin.

Ozpin sighed. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Mr. Black. This discussion will be over soon, provided-"

He was cut off as the elevator doors opened. He saw Kurai Mirai walk out of it.

"Mr. Mirai. I wasn't expecting you."

Kurai said nothing. When he reached the group, he asked. "What do you know about him?"

"Huh? You mean Balam?"

He picked Mercury up by his shirt. "No, you shady bastard! I mean Zero!"

"Mr. Mirai!" Glynda said. "Please calm yourself!"

"Tell me everything you know! Where is he?! Who was that girl with him?! What is your connection to him?!"

"Mr. Mirai!"

"I'M NOT LEAVING UNTIL I GET SOME GODDAMN ANSWERS!" As Kurai said this, one of his eyes began to fade. Black flames gathered behind him, in the shape of wings.

'Angel of darkness?' Cinder thought. 'Is he really a human?'

"Mr. Mirai!" Ozpin said. "If you do not calm down this instant, you will be expelled!"

Kurai's eyes widened as both returned to normal. His flames disappeared as well. He sighed. "I apologize for my behavior. I just can't control myself when I get that angered."

'Understandable, considering what species he is.' "I know that you must be frustrated. But you cannot be so quick to resort to violence."

Kurai looked down at his feet in shame.

"If it is answers you want, they may have them. Please have a seat. We were questioning them already before you came."

Kurai nodded and sat down.

Emerald frowned. Ozpin and Glynda were enough. The last thing they needed was a bipolar psychopath asking them questions as well. "Professor Ozpin. Is it true there is an event taking place after the tournament?"

"Yes. There is a dance that will be held after the finals to celebrate."

"Ah, how interesting. Kurai, are you planning to ask that nice young girl out to it?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Ruby Rose is her name, right?"

"W-what?! How did you know?! I never told you!"

"In her defense, I think everyone at Beacon besides her knows," Mercury stated.

"Yeah, what he said. You know, I think I saw students from other academies eying her. I think they plan on asking her out. If you don't hurry, they might beat you to it."

Kurai immediately got up from his seat and ran to the elevator. "We will continue this later!" he said as the doors closed.

Mercury smirked. "Well, now that he's gone, lets get back to these questions. Hey, exactly how long is this gonna take? I really wanna get back to the tournament to watch."

"I apologize. But because of Mr. Balam's actions, your team is suspected of being part of the White Fang as well. For that, you will be kept here until the tournament is over."

"Wait, we can't go back to the tournament?"

"That is correct. If it's any consolation, we have some of the best technology to watch the tournament from here."

"..."

"Mr. Black?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine." 'NIKUTO, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!'

_BEACON ACADEMY INFIRMARY, AFTER TOURNAMENT_

Crimson's eyes slowly opened. He noticed that had been placed in one the infirmary's beds. He looked to his right and saw Adam Blu in the bed next to his, currently fast asleep. At his side was Syfen, who had also fallen asleep in the chair he was in. A cartoonish bubble of mucus stemmed from his nose, and grew and shrank in rhythm with his snores.

"So, you finally woke up." Crimson looked to his left and saw Yang sitting in a chair next to him. "Morning, sleeping beauty."

"Yang?" the faunus asked. "What happened? How'd I get here? Why are Adam and Syfen here?"

"Well, for you, I think this should help." She handed him a mirror. Crimson looked at himself in it and noticed that gauze covered his forehead. "That's right. Balam did that... Where'd that bastard go? I feel like burying his face into a wall."

"Uh... About that... You can't."

"If you think that the blow I took to the head is gonna hold me back, you're wrong. I can beat the piss out of him even in this condition."

"No. I mean you can't because nobody knows where he is."

"...Huh?"

"After you were knocked unconscious, Adam finished the fight for you. He quickly beat Cinder, and then knocked Rollans to the ground. However, Rolland didn't seem to like the idea of losing, so he decided to attack Adam."

Crimson's eyes widened. How much of this scheme was he left out on? He felt guilty. As though he had caused this. He did not know why. "Is that why he's here?"

"Yeah. Then Syfen got angry and his gravity powers made of the General's machines malfunction. So Ozpin stepped in and knocked Balam out. Before he could grab him, though... Two others came. A girl we fought in the past... And someone Kurai apparently fought in the past. Apparently they're linked with the criminal group, the White Fang."

"Oh, really now?" He laughed nervously. He decided to change the topic. "So is the tournament over?"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Did Beacon Academy win?"

"You'd better believe it!"

"So which student won? Was it you?"

"I wish. But in the finals I was beaten by a girl named Celest from Team CSTL (Crystal). She then moved on to the true final match against Pyrrah. It was a close call, but in the end, Pyrrah won. Something seemed... Off about Pyrrah. She seemed distracted. Like something was bothering her."

"Magnet girl? What could possibly be wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure. But it would need to be something really bad to bring her down."

"Mmm. I wonder..."

"Wonder what?"

"Oh, um, never mind." 'Could she be wrapped up in Cinder's plan as well?' "So. Why are you here?"

"Well, Syfen over there was originally in charge of monitoring you. But... He sort of... Passed out. So after the tournament, I volunteered to watch you."

"Ahh. Wait, does that mean you were watching me sleep?"

"That's part of the job description, Crimsy. Got a problem with that?"

"N-no. It just feels a bit strange. So... Am I allowed to leave this place?"

"Yeah, provided you can stand, you can go back to your own dorm."

"I feel fine!" Crimson hopped out of his bed. "Look at me! I'm awesome! I won't let something as simple as a head injury hold me back!"

"Whoa, take it easy there, Crimsy. I suppose if you're feeling better, I could take ya back to your dorm. With your current clothes... I'd say you don't make the cut~"

Crimson looked down and saw that his clothes were all torn up and cut everywhere. He frowned. "Ha ha. Very funny, Yang."

"You're a cut above the rest."

"Yes, ha ha. I get it, but-"

"I don't mean to cut you off, but..."

"I GET IT! Stop with the puns, already! You don't see me commenting on your outfit, do ya, Goldilocks?"

Yang's lilac eyes immediately shifted to scarlet. "Do you have a problem with the way I dress, Denki?"

"Ah! N-no, I was just joking!"

Her eyes returned to normal. "Good. I'd rather not have to break your spine."

"..."

"What?"

"Nothing." 'It's just that you're even more bi-polar than Kurai...' He left the infirmary with Yang following close behind.

Only a moment after the door closed, Syfen's snot bubble popped and he awoke screaming. "No! Don't ask me to play rock-paper-scissors with a booger on your finger! Huh?" He looked around. "Oh yeah. Sleepy time." He blacked out and the bubble regrew instantaneously.

Meanwhile, Crimson and Yang walked through the halls of Beacon. "I can take care of myself, Xiao Long."

"No ya can't."

"Yes I can!"

"No ya can't. Just look at yourself."

"Ugh! You're relentless!"

"So are you."

The silence between them was driving Crimson go insane. 'Damn it, Crimson, think of something. Theres gotta be something we can talk about. Just think of something clever!' "So, uh... Yang?"

"Yes?"

"How do you feel about Kurai and Ruby possibly being a couple?" 'Talk about the opposite of clever...'

"Oh... Those two? I'm personally fine with it, but I don't exactly feel like Demon Boy is exactly very trustworthy. He's hiding something dark. I can just sense it. Not to mention I've caught him talking to himself on multiple occasions."

'Only the assassin could literally talk to himself and make it seem justified.' "Yeah, he's a weird one. Where is he anyways?"

"He ran off somewhere. Said he had some important business to attend to."

"Ah. Well if he wants to ask her out, he should do it now, with the dance coming up and all. I doubt he has the balls to do it though. But hey, sometimes unexpected things happen."

"Hey, I've also heard that you keep trying to pair Weiss up with your leader. Is that true?"

"Oh, yes. Me and Kurai have been trying to set Adam up with Weiss for a while now, but he just keeps saying no. Maybe with the upcoming dance he'll finally agree."

_MEANWHILE_

"For the last time, no..." Adam mumbled in his sleep.

_BACK WITH CRIMSON AND YANG_

"WE WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN!"

"Wow. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while." Yang giggled.

Crimson blushed when he heard the laugh.

"Unfortunately for you, though, I don't think Weiss would be interested either. She has her sights set on Neptune. What about you? Are you planning on asking anyone out?"

"I... I..." His entire face was now the color of his namesake as he stared into the blonde girl's lilac eyes. He turned to run away. "I... I'm sorry, I just can't stand it!"

Yang grabbed his arm. "What are you talking about?"

"Leave me alone! He broke his arm free from her grip. Electricity swirled around his body as he activated the same technique he use against Balam and ran away in a flash.

"Wait, Crimson stop!" Yang yelled as she ran after him. If you keep using that ability, it'll destroy your body!"

Crimson did not hear her. He just kept running. 'Damn it... Damn it! Why did it have to be her?! Why did I have to fall for a human?! Am I really not worthy to be in the White Fang like she said?! Damn it all!'

_FLASHBACK_

"So. You've finally decided to confront me. Have you decided to stop acting as though we don't know each other, Crimson?"

The dragon faunus gritted his teeth. Standing before him was Blake Belladona. The cat faunus who was partnered with his brother and betrayed the White Fang. As much as he hated to admit it, he didn't hate Blake for what she did. He knew that she must have had reasons for what she did. He sighed. "Blake. I won't ask why you left. I know that's personal. But I would like to ask you something else. You know who I am. So why haven't you told anyone?"

"I suppose I could ask you the same question."

"Don't change the subject, Belladona."

"I wasn't trying to. I suppose the best answer would be exactly as you said. I know who you are. And who you think you are isn't the true Crimson Taurus."

"What?"

"That whole hating humans act is only for show. You don't actually hate them."

"S-shut up. Of course I hate humans. What the hell would make you think that."

"I have known you and Adam since childhood, so me and him know you better than anyone else. Better than yourself. Tell me. Do you remember anything before you were five years old?"

"...What does that have to do with this?"

"Never mind that for now. Name one mission your brother ever sent you on that involved contact with humans."

"..."

"What about the prisoners the White Fang brought in? Were you ever allowed to see them?"

"...Just because I'm not allowed to see humans doesn't automatically mean I don't hate them."

"Perhaps. But the reason they take such pre-cautions in the first place... Never mind that. I suppose it would be best for you to watch your back. Your brother... He's planning something. Something big. Something that has to do with you. Like me, he knows of your true morals. Unlike me, however, he wants you gone."

"...I don't believe you. I will never believe you."

"Believe what you want Crimson. But everything I've said is the truth."

_END OF FLASHBACK_

'Damn you! I'm supposed to hate humans! How the hell did everything turn out this way?!'

He exited Beacon and ran all the way to Forever Fall, unaware that a certain blonde brawler had been following him.

_TEN MINUTES LATER_

After they reached Forever Fall, Yang had lost track of the dragon faunus. "Where the hell did that idiot run off to?" she asked herself. "I could call for him, but then he'd probably run away again... Maybe I should-"

"Shit!" she heard off in the distance.

She blinked. "Crimsy..." She ran towards the source of the voice. And was shocked by what she saw.

Crimson was surrounded by trees that he had cut down with Red Death. "Why!" He stabbed one of his daggers into another tree. Tears formed in his eyes. "Why..." He fell to the ground on his knees. "I'm supposed to hate humans. They're selfish, ignorant, loud, obnoxious pricks with basically no redeeming qualities at all! Just look at all they've accomplished over the years! Pollution, racism, sexism, genocide... Nothing good has ever come from them... They're just a species of arrogant dumbasses! So why... Why do I care for them...? What the hell has caused me to feel this way...?" He broke down and started crying. A beowulf appeared from the shadows, and Crimson immediately beheaded it, and went back to sobbing.

Yang blinked at the sight. She sighed. "I'm not sure what he's crying for, or whatever he just said was... But... He needs to be left alone right now. He's more than capable of handling the grimm that come after him."

_MEANWHILE_

Kurai breathed heavily as he stopped running. He had been sprinting around Beacon, looking for Ruby for the past hour. However, no matter where he looked, he couldn't seem to find the girl. "Darn it..." he said in between breaths. "Where are you, Ruby-chan?"

"_Your tracking skills are pitiful,_" he heard Azazel state. "_How were you ever an assassin with such weak abilities?_"

"Believe it or not, hearing you say that my skills as a murderer have weakened actually makes me happy."

"_Yeah, yeah. Whatever. So what's the plan?_"

"I need some sugar." The boy took a cookie out of his pocket. "If I don't have any soon I'll fall unconscious. Last thing I'd want is for that jerk Satō to take over." He took off the package. "Itadakimasu..." And right before he was about to eat...

"Oh, hey Kurai!"

The boy let out a slightly feminine yelp and threw the cookie in the air. He quickly caught it and let out a sigh of relief. "_Letting yourself be caught off guard so easily? It makes me question if you were trained as an assassin in the first place._"

Kurai ignored that comment and turned around. He blushed when he saw that it was Ruby. "H-hi Ruby-chan..."

"Where did you go? You ran off after the battle and didn't return."

"I had... Unfinished business I needed to take care of. I needed to ask some questions."

"Ah. Ok. So you..." She trailed off when she noticed what was in his hands. She was mesmerized by the sight of the cookie.

He looked down at it. Normally he hated sharing sugar. But considering this was Ruby... He broke the cookie in half and handed one to her.

She looked back at Kurai. "Can I...?"

"Sure-"

As soon as he said this, Ruby snatched it from his hand and ate it in one bite. "A girl who loves sugar as much I do... I like that." Kurai and Ruby blushed in synchronization. "So... Ruby-chan. I need to ask-"

"Wait, Kurai. Before you say anything, I have something to ask. Would you like..." Her face went red. "...To go to the dance with me?"

"...Wait, you're asking me to the dance?"

"Yes... Is there a problem?"

"Um... I'd like that but..."

"_The girl asked you first! You're so slow!_"

'Shut up. My pride is already wounded, no need to rub salt into the wound.' "Never mind, Ruby-chan. My answer is yes... Would you like me to pick you up at some time?"

"Oh... Sure."

"Does 7:00 sound good?"

"Yeah. Sounds fun."

"Also... Ruby-chan... The dance isn't until tomorrow..."

"Yeah? Why?"

"I was just wondering... Are you free tonight?"

"Y-yes..."

"Well... If you're free... Maybe we could... Go out later? For a date, I mean. If you don't wanna, that's fine."

Ruby blushed. "Kurai. I already told you didn't I? My answer is yes. And no. I don't have plans tonight."

"Oh... T-that's great! What time?"

"Let's say 6:00, I guess?"

"Alright. That time works for me as well."

"Ok! I can't wait! See you then!" Ruby ran off in the other direction with a deep blush covering her face.

As soon as she was out of sight, Kurai fell to the ground onto his knees. He let out a long sigh in relief. "I did it..."

"_Congrats, Mirai. Your awkwardness has attracted an awkward female._"

"S-shut up. Me and her aren't that awkward..."

"_Yes you are. I wonder if your awkwardness will pass down to you and her children._"

"We're not awk- WAIT, CHILDREN?!"

"_Nishishishishi~_" It wasn't often he heard Azazel laugh in a non-sadistic way, but Kurai had to admit: It still sounds creepy. "_Name the first one Azazel Junior!_"

_LATER_

After his breakdown had ended, Crimson immediately returned to the academy. He intended to return to to his team's dorm room. However... "Why did I even come here?"

In front of him was the door to team RWBY's dorm.

He already knew the answer to his own question. On his way back to the school, he had finally come to terms with the fact that he had never hated humans. He wouldn't say he was too fond of them, but he didn't hate them. He knew that he had feelings for Yang Xiao Long. That much was obvious. So he decided to ask her to the upcoming dance. However...

He was beginning to think that it wasn't such a good idea. He had no idea if the blonde girl felt the same way. 'Most likely not,' he thought. 'I have been an asshole to her and everybody else... Why should I even care? Worst thing that happens is she says no...' He raised his fist, ready to knock. And right before it could hit the door...

It opened, and his fist landed in someone else's face. Yang's face, to be exact. He brought his hand back, and Yang's eyes opened. It terrified him to see that they were already burning scarlet with rage. Knowing that he didn't have much time left, he said what he came to say.

"Before you kill me, I need to ask. Would you please go to that dance with me?"

"Sure."

"Huh... Good to kn-" He didn't have time to finish his statement as Yang uppercutted him, knocking him into a wall. And nearly into unconsciousness.

Yang sighed. Before she could close the door, a red blur ran through, leaving a trail of rose petals. She knew it was none other than Ruby Rose. She frantically started going through her bags pulling out random clothes. She looked extremely distressed. Yang raised a brow at the sight. "Rubes? Something wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing's wrong!"

"You sure about that?"

"...Ok, maybe I'm a little nervous. Kurai asked me out to the dance..."

"Oh, how cute," Yang said. "So what's the problem? It's not until tomorrow, isn't it? You've got plenty of time to prepare."

"Well... He also asked me out on a date. Tonight."

"..."

"Yang?"

"..."

"Yang, you're scaring me."

Without saying a word, Yang took out her scroll and typed in a number. She waited for whoever was on the other end to answer. "Ice Queen, the time has come. Tell Blake too. We've got a code orange. Yeah. That one. The time has come. Get here as soon as possible." She turned to Ruby with a very creepy grin on her face. "You just stay right there Ruby. Don't move an inch."

"Y-Yang? What's going on? You aren't going to hurt Kurai, are you?"

"No. This has nothing to do with Kurai. What we're about to do, is make you the prettiest girl on Remnant for your first date."

"I-is that really necessary? I can handle this on my own... I think..."

"Let us help!"

"Alright, just stop! Stop with that scary smile, please!"

Her creepy smile returned to a normal one. "That's what I like to hear..." 'Well, this is it. Little Ruby is finally going on her first date. But I can't just let it go unsupervised. I'll need a partner to help with this. Blakey has stuff to do tonight, and Weiss probably won't agree to that. I'll need someone else... But who...?"

She opened the door, and saw Crimson still lying on the floor. "Is God of Chaos off hiatus yet?" He said in a daze.

Yang's creepy smile returned. 'He'll be perfect...'

_MEANWHILE_

Team RUST would use any chance they got to train. All four of its members absolutely loved to fight. It was a thrill all of them loved. So the group had no objections when their leader suggested they go to Forever Fall to kill some grimm.

Agreeing to that was the biggest mistake they ever made.

Ross Vermomming had lead them to the center of the forest, where there just so happened to be a group of grimm ready to attack. A very large pack of them, if I may add.

Ross sat on a tree branch as he watched the group of three get ripped into pieces. RUST may be highly trained hunters in training, but this amount of grimm was far too much for them. Their 'leader' said nothing as he listened to the symphony of agonizing screams, orchestrated by his 'teammates'.

It didn't take too long for the grimm to finish them off. Once all that was left were mutilated bodies and red stains on the ground, 'Ross' hopped off the branch, landing with grace. When he landed, his appearance completely changed. His previously long purple hair seemed to shrink into short hair, and turned white. His emerald green eyes shifted to red orbs. He even shrunk down to the size of a child.

He looked at the grimm and bowed. "Thank you very much for your assistance, divine gods."

His words were met with a group of howls. 'Ross' felt something tug on his pant leg. He looked down and saw a tiny beowolf pup sitting down next to him. It let out a small whine. The boy crouched down and patted it on the head. The pup wagged its tail.

A lock of the boy's short hair grew out, and an eyeball appeared at the end of it. "It appears this young one lost its mother," the hair strand said as it formed a mouth. "A human killed it."

"Human filth. They will pay, Kami."

"I assume your plan remains the same, Catalyst?"

"Of course." The one known as Catalyst changed his size and appearance again. This time it matched Qrow Branwen perfectly. His voice even sounded the same. "Fall will be ours..."

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

_Ok, Chapter 4 is complete! Once again, sorry for the wait. If you want the explanation, refer to the author's note from the last update. It will probably take a long time before the next chapter is posted too. I truly am sorry, but that is just the way I write._


	6. Special 1: History of Adam and Syfen

**Team ACKS Special: History of Adam and Syfen**

_Disclaimer- The following is a non-profit fanfiction. I do not own anything except the OCs._

_Author's Note (PLEASE READ!)- A backstory for Adam and Syfen, the first two members of Team ACKS. This is written by the creator the Adam Blu, Twister, not me. And I just gotta say. He's a much better author than me. For those wondering where chapter 5 is, I'm working on it. I forgot about it over the summer, and now that school has started back up, I don't really have too much time to work on it. As I said before, fanfiction is not my top priority. But, once again, I assure you I am indeed working on it, albeit very slowly._

The young boy huddled over the anvil, his arm extended. He was about fourteen, pale, with dark black hair and piercing emerald green eyes. He was tall for his age, five feet and nine inches tall. He was also well muscled, as a result from working the forge with his father, and weapon lessons with his mother. He wore a black tee shirt and jeans. He also was wearing bracelets, anklets, and a necklace, all of a similar style. They were made of inert blue dust crystals, their energy sapped out of them so that the were no longer volatile. A thin band of gold and gold chains held them in place. His mother had given them to him only the day before.

"Is it working, Adam?" said the young boy's closest friend, watching excitedly over his shoulder. He was also around the age of fourteen. He wore a light blue tee shirt, yellow sweat pants with light blue stripes in them, and a yellow leather jacket, also with light blue stripes. He also wore a blue bandana around his head, folded into a line and tied securely onto his head. He was relatively tall and well muscled, but not as much as his friend. He had brown, spiky hair. Strangely, his eyes were different colors. His right eye was a deep brown, while his left eye was a mischievous purple.

"Give me a moment, Syfen. I need to focus," Adam replied.

Adam's extended hand began to glow a dark blue as he activated his semblance. The expertly crafted short sword on the anvil in front of him began to glow as well. Suddenly, a thin tendril of metal snaked out of the sword and up to the concentrating boy's hand. This continued for several seconds, until it suddenly stopped. The sword continued to glow for another ten seconds, without any visible changes. Then, all of a sudden, the sword started to turn a dark green, and then the sword and Adam's hand both stopped glowing.

"Did it work? How much better is it? What are you gonna call the new metal?" Syfen asked in an unrelenting stream of questions.

"Well, let's find out," Adam responded. He picked up another sword, and handed it to Syfen. It was just a normal sword, unlike Adam's short sword, which could also turn into a small caliber, long barreled pistol. "Hold this for me. I'm going to take a swing at it," he told the other boy.

"Okey dokey!" Syfen cheerfully replied. Adam halfheartedly swung the superior short sword at the longer bladed sword. However, that isn't to say that the longer sword was poor quality. It was a strong and superbly balanced sword. And it was deadly sharp. However, the short sword simply cleaved through it, like a hot knife through butter, even with the halfhearted swing Adam put behind it. Both of the boys stared at it in shock.

"Oh my god! That's incredible Adam!" Syfen exclaimed.

"I can't believe it worked that well either. I never expected it to work anywhere near that well," Adam said.

"What are you going to call it?" Syfen asked again.

"I think I'm going to call it Adamantite. Or maybe just Adamant," he replied.

"Lets go show your parents!" Syfen said excitedly.

"Sure," he replied. They started walking toward the front of Adam's house, away from the forge. "And I can show it to Celest tomorrow at lessons with Mom. I wonder what she'll thi-"

**BOOM!**

He was interrupted by the sound of a huge explosion. They both turned to see a huge hole shattered in their village's outer protective wall, smoke billowing from the gaping hole. They watched, awestruck, as strange men in Grimm masks ran into their village. They were led by a young man with flaming red hair, directing the charge. They ran around, attacking anyone in sight. Initially paralyzed by the sight of the strange men, Adam quickly turned to his lifelong friend. "Quickly! Come with me!" And they both raced into Adam's house. Adam ran into his room, and hurried to strap on his armor. "Syfen, right over there is a scimitar, grab it!" Adam he said pointing.

"Ok. How do I use it?" Syfen, who was usually quite jovial, was suddenly serious.

"Click the top button to shoot out the blade. It's attached to a cable. Press it again to retract it," said Adam, who was pulling on his right gauntlet. He already had his chest plate and shoulder pads on. "If you click the bottom button, it splits the blade down the middle, and the right half will swing down to the bottom. Watch your fingers when you do it." He had now pulled in his left gauntlet, and was grabbing his left shin guard. "If you press it again the blade will spin around, and a line will come down and turn it into a bow. I don't have any arrows, though. Click it one more time to bring it back to normal."

He was now finishing strapping on all of his armor.

"Wow, that's a lot. When did you make this?" Syfen asked.

"I've been working on it for a few years now. I wanted to see how much I could fit into one sword." They both raced outside, only to see that most of their village was already on fire, lit by the strange men in masks. They both looked over to see a man running toward them and yelling.

"There are two more over here! I've got them!", he yelled over to some of his companions. Adam had time to realize that all of the men were Faunus. Adam ran over to grab his second sword, which was leaning up against a crate next to the sparring area on the right side of the house. He also saw, with a sinking feeling in his chest, that his mother's pike was leaning against the wall, where she had left it earlier in the morning. The man had reached him now, and looked at Adam with contempt.

"Got daddy's swords, have we? Why don't you drop those nasty sharp swords before we hurt ourselves?" he said mockingly.

"What do you want with us? What are you doing here?" Adam demanded.

"What did I tell you, you worthless human scum, drop daddy's swords or I'll split your skull for you!" he shouted angrily. When Adam made no move to do so, he brought his sword high above his head. "Alright, I've had enough! Your going to die!"

If he thought that would scare Adam, then he was terribly mistaken. He swung his sword down, aiming unerringly toward Adam's head. However, Adam was faster. As the sword swung down, Adam hit the side of the sword with his new Adamant sword, cutting cleanly through it. Expecting to meet resistance, the man stumbled, and look down at his newly foreshortened sword.

"Wha- uughff"

He grunted as Adam set his boot in the middle of his chest, and pushed away, sending him flying. He crashed heavily to the ground, banging his head and getting knocked unconscious.

"Drake, what's taking you so long? Get up!" one of the Faunus shouted over. When it was clear that he wasn't getting up, the new man, obviously some sort of leader, yelled to his men, "Come on! Somehow those two kids got Drake!"

"Ummm... that's a lot of them," Syfen said doubtfully.

"I agree," Adam replied, equally doubtful. "I think we should run." And saying so, they turned and ran from the men who were rapidly pursuing them. "I'm gonna try slowing them down," Adam said. He half turned to the left as he ran, quickly flipping his sword into a gun. He sent three shots quickly over their pursuers head's, not actually aiming at any of them. They all shouted in fear, and cowered slightly. They quickly realized that no one was hurt, and took off after the children again, albeit with much less enthusiasm.

"What now?" Syfen asked.

"I'm not sure. But we can't stick around and let these guys catch us!" Adam responded. They kept running toward the outskirts of the village. Every now and then, Adam would turn around and fire a shot at them. Eventually, they reached the wall surrounding the village. Syfen turned and saw a new group of men sprinting to reach the first group. However, a few of them dropped to their knees and leveled rifles at Adam and Syfen. Syfen now pressed the bottom button on his scimitar, letting go of the sword briefly as the handle split in half, swung down, and slid back up into place, leaving half the blade pointing up, and the other down. He then activated his semblance, which was partial control over gravity. He created a sphere where gravity spun in a circle in front of his hand, right where the scimitar was. The double sided scimitar began to spin quickly in place, just in time to block the three shots fired at them.

"Nice job," Adam said, suitably impressed. He then leveled both of his pistol-swords at the shooters, and let out six shots their way. Two of them found their mark, hitting two of the rifles and breaking them. Another three of his shots missed. However, one of them, only slightly off line, hit one of their attackers in the arm. The man yelled in pain, clutching his wounded arm.

Adam watched in horror as the man doubled over in pain. "I didn't mean to..." Then he should his head. These men were trying to kill them and burn their village down, and he didn't need to feel guilty about hurting one of them. But he still did.

"We have to get out of here!" Syfen said quickly.

"There's a watch tower just over there. We can climb up it and use it to jump over the wall," Adam said hurriedly. They both sprinted to the tower, and quickly scaled the ladder. Once at the top, they jumped down, rolling to absorb their fall. Once they gathered themselves, they both turned and ran into the Forever Fall Forest, quickly disappearing in the dimness under the trees.

"You let two of them get away?" the red haired man asked angrily.

"Umm... yes, sir. But they were armed..." the man said, obviously cowed.

"They were human children. There is no excuse for not catching pests like them," the red haired leader said, his voice low, but nonetheless threatening for the fact.

"Yes sir, Adam," said the man. He knew that his rank as a squad leader was forfeit. Adam Taurus was a ruthless leader.

The two boys spent an uncomfortable night in the forest. They climbed a tree, and stayed in it overnight. However, neither of them could fully fall asleep at any point, because if they did so they would likely fall off the tree. Add to the fact was that one of them had to stay on guard, and watch to see if anyone was coming after them, or to see if there were any Grimm in the area. There were plenty, with the recent attack on the village, but they only two occasions where they got sufficiently close enough to have to deal with them.

In the morning, stiff and sore, the two friends contemplated what to do.

"What should we do now?" Syfen wondered.

"Maybe we should go and check on the village?" Adam asked.

"I guess so," replied Syfen.

They traveled back to their village, making sure to stay out of sight from any unfriendly eyes.

"Wait here. I'll go over the wall," Syfen offered.

"Good idea. You'll be much quieter than I will," Adam said. Syfen quickly ran to the wall, and used his semblance to jump up to the top of the wall, hanging with only his head showing over the top.

"It looks all clear, only a few Grimm in there," he called softly to Adam.

"Alright. Let's get inside and take a look," replied Adam. Syfen then pulled himself over the wall, pausing briefly to lessen the gravity for Adam. Adam got a running start, then leaped clear over the wall, rolling to absorb the impact as he landed.

They searched the village for almost an hour, with a few brief moments of excitement as Grimm occasionally noticed them. However, the village was completely abandoned, with no one in sight. They did find, however, signs of the places where their friends and fellow villagers had been murdered.

"Why? Why would anyone do this?" Adam asked incredulously, after coming upon one such site. "We are a simple mining village. All we do is mine dust crystals and metal out of the mountain. We never hurt anyone." Syfen had no answers for him.

"Alright, but what do we do now?" Adam wondered. Then he remembered what his mother always told him.

"If anything ever happens to the village, go find your uncle at Beacon."

"Maybe we should head to Beacon," Adam said, turning to look at the top of the main tower, just visible over the peak of the nearby mountain.

"Yeah, I think Aunt Glynda works there," Syfen said. "Maybe she knows where everyone is."

Adam thought he knew what had happened to everyone else in the village, but he didn't have the heart to tell his friend.

Adam pulled out his scroll, and quickly dialed his uncle. Unfortunately, there was no answer. He tried again, with the same result. He tried one last time. On the third ring, his uncle finally picked up.

"Hello, Adam. I know whatever you need to talk about must be important, but I am in the middle of a meeting with General Ironwood, so could it possibly wait a few minutes until we are done?" the calm voice on the other end of the line asked.

"No, it can't Uncle Ozpin. Our village was... was attacked yesterday. Strange men in Grimm masks burst in and started killing and burning everything," Adam said quickly.

"Grimm masks? Were they all Faunus? And did they wear white jackets with a red wolf's head and slashes on the back?" he asked suddenly alarmed.

"Yes, they did. They came in and just started attacking everyone for no reason. Syfen and I managed to get away last night. We came back to the village this morning, but no one else it here. I... I... I think they might all be..." Adam started stuttering, with a sudden lump in his throat.

"Is my sister alright, Adam? Is your mother okay?" Ozpin asked worriedly.

"I... I don't know... I can't find her, or Dad," Adam said quietly, a tears sliding profusely down his face.

"... don't worry Adam. General Ironwood, Professor Glynda and I are on our way. We will be there in less than half an hour," Ozpin said in a solemn voice.

"Ok..." Adam said.

Twenty minutes later, they heard the sound of an airship overhead. They both looked up at the quickly descending craft. Once it landed, they were spirited on board, as the adults tried to comfort them. Adam was filled with a sudden hatred for the red haired man who had led the attack. He was a kind soul, and never wanted to cause anyone the slightest pain. But this was an exception, he decided. He wanted to kill the man who ruined his life with all of his heart.

Several months passed. Neither boys' parents ever showed up. Nor did anyone else from their village. They lived with their relatives at Beacon. Syfen eventually returned to his normal, jovial self, becoming the same random, irrepressible, energy filled boy of the past. Adam, however changed immensely. He was never considered a social person, and was usually quiet. But after the attack, he began talking less and less. He became extremely solemn, and always serious. Eventually, as the months passed, a deadpan vein of humor grew back. But it was woefully small compared to what it had been before.

When they reached the age of seventeen, they both applied to Beacon Academy. Being superb warriors, they were both immediately accepted. However, due to Ozpin wanting to include a certain fifteen year old and her sister, there was not quite enough students to make a complete final team. So, Adam quietly suggested to his uncle that perhaps he and Syfen should land close to each other in the team assignment mission. Then the two of them would form their own team of two. They were both among the the top five most skilled students in the grade, which balanced out the fact that they only had half a team.

However, one year later, now in their second year at the school, they were due to have two new members joining their team. Adam was on his way to meet the two new members with his uncle.

"So, what are my new teammates like, Uncle," Adam asked, in his ever-serious tone.

Ozpin looked at him. "Well, they are certainly... interesting"


End file.
